Episode 163: THE STEWARD IS NOT POWERLESS Know Your Rights, Build Your Case, Defend the Contract

<p>This episode is a full-scale training session for shop stewards, branch officers, activists and every letter carrier who has ever wondered what a steward can actually do when management says <strong>no</strong>.</p><p>Using the Fall 2004 edition of the <em>NALC Activist</em> as ourfoundation, we are going to break down five major areas:</p><p>We are going to talk about power<strong>.</strong></p><p>Where does management&#39;s power come from?</p><p>Where does the Union&#39;s power come from?</p><p>Why does arbitration matter even when your grievance never reaches arbitration?</p><p>What should a steward do when management says, &quot;I don&#39;t have time for you today&quot;?</p><p>What happens when management tries to make the steward sit silently during an investigative interview?</p><p>How do you document a denial?</p><p>When should remedies escalate?</p><p>And perhaps most importantly:</p><p>Who are we training to take our place?</p><p>Because a strong union cannot depend upon one president, one chiefsteward, one shop steward or one great grievance writer.</p><p>A strong union creates more strong unionists.</p><p></p>