Silver Screen Tarnishes Unions

[Excerpt] Organizing a film festival of pro-labor Hollywood films would be rather difficult. When unions do appear, they are often part of the subplot or the background for the main story line

Creative Pressure Tactics

[Excerpt] Saul Alinsky, a great labor and community organizer, once said that “tactics that drag on become a drag.” Stewards know that tactics used too often can lose their effectiveness and burn members out. That’s why wise stewards are always looking for new and creative ways to put pressure on an employer. Here are some ideas that have worked for other unionists

Training Needs Assessment of Farm Workers in Orange and Sullivan Counties, NY

[Excerpt] A team of three faculty members from Cornell interviewed people from agencies or organizations that provide services to or work with farm workers in and near Orange and Sullivan Counties NY. We also met many times with the staff of the Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agricolas (CITA, Independent Farm Workers Center located in Florida, NY) and groups of farm workers. Most of the farm workers with whom we met work in the onion fields in the black dirt area of Orange County or on a large duck farm in Sullivan County. At the same time, we did a review of literature and basic analysis of census data and other government statistics, as well as consultation with industry expert and researchers

Building Unity in the Workplace

[Excerpt] One of your most important jobs as a steward is unifying the members in your area to work together and build the union. Building solidarity is essential, especially in tough times, but it can be challenging. Here are things you can do to build and maintain unity

Communicating Across Cultures

[Excerpt] Communication is the key to so many things a steward does, and good communication skills are something experienced stewards develop. But even experienced stewards have special challenges when the communication is between people of different cultures

Representing Difficult People

[Excerpt] Few stewards would argue that most of their union work flows directly from problems with management. Contract misinterpretations and outright violations, thoughtless supervision, paperwork foulups and a million other things go wrong all the time, adding up to a real handful for stewards. That’s why it can be such a frustration when some of your most difficult problems come not from management, but from your own ranks

How to Probe for Settlements on Grievances

[Excerpt] Experienced stewards know that sometimes you have to ask management a lot of questions if you want to reach your goal. There may be a way for both sides to come out satisfied, but you have to know how to determine if that\u27s possible, and you can only do that by posing the right questions

Bridging Cultural Differences

[Excerpt] How you say it can matter as much as what you say

Working It Out

[Excerpt] Every steward knows that it’s almost always better to work out problems with management informally, without having to resort to filing a grievance. And ever steward knows that if you do have to file a grievance, it’s better to win it at the first step than have to go through the headaches that come with moving higher up the food chain, or, even worse, risk leaving things in the hands of an arbitrator

Creative Problem Solving

[Excerpt] Sometimes solutions to difficult problems are simple, if you think creatively. Here are three true stories of how stewards used their creativity to resolve workplace problems