The Role of the Steward Dante Whittaker Region 8 Council Vice-President

2 Part Presentation F Role of the Steward F Communications and representative F Employee assistance, handling complaints F Recruiter for Local F Negotiations F Union Image F Nuts and Bolts F Know your stuff… and where to look it up. F Attending meetings F Union internal functioning F Union Tools

How are stewards selected? Election or Appointment It depends on your ________! fill in the blank!

Communications

F Communication between union and bargaining unit employees F What are employees’ concerns? F What is the Union doing for employees? F Communication between Union officials and other Union officials F Get or give assistance/advice F Refer issue to higher level union for resolution F E.g. National or regional issues

Communications F Communication between employees and management F Employee concerns and issues F Pre-decisional involvement F Negotiations F Grievances and other complaints

Communication F Be available to your Bargaining Unit, and let them know when and how to contact you F Check in with your members – don’t wait for them to come to you. F Local Bulletin Boards – Have them, use them! F Get in touch with other unions in your area. Know the local issues and support them. F Greet all new bargaining unit employees (Article 13.4: Where practical to do so, supervisors will arrange to introduce new employees to a local Union official.)

Bulletin Boards F How many have at least one Bulletin Board at their work site? F Why was every hand not raised??

Communication – Nuts and bolts F Your Local should create or mailing lists of F All officers and stewards F All members and F All BUEs Put names in the bcc line so folks don’t use your list and to protect confidentiality. (Put notice such as, “This was sent to all bargaining unit employees as a bcc to protect your privacy.”) F Read your daily and forward appropriate messages to your officials, members, and BUEs. F Share information about what your Local is doing. F Establish a regular or newsletter to all members. F Your Local should be sending “This Week in the Council” and “FSC Voice” to all BUEs.

Creating Mailing Lists F You need to communicate to your members AND your entire bargaining unit F Get a list from Management F Article 7: Upon request the Forest Service agrees to furnish to the Union, at the appropriate level, usually not more than quarterly, an up-to-date list of employees in the organizational unit showing F name, F position, title, grade, and step, F Bargaining Unit Status code (BUS), F Fair Labor Standards Act code, and F official duty station.

Communications -- Internal F Note: Internal business (dues, membership, budget, etc) should be sent on your own time and say “INTERNAL READ ON YOUR OWN TIME” in the subject line.

Confidentiality F As a Union official you hear a lot of “stuff” F Must respect confidentiality of employees you represent. F Must be clear with employees about what you can and will keep confidential and what you cannot. F May share info with other union officials. F There are times when management will tell you something in confidence. You have no obligation to keep it confidential, BUT you will lose all trust if you don’t.

Employee Assistance Handling Complaints

Grievances and Complaints F For Example: F Grievances – contractual agreement for dispute resolution F Merit Systems Protection Board – appeals of adverse actions F Equal Employment Opportunity F Merit System Protection Board F Office of Special Counsel F OPM F Fair Labor Standards Act F Classification appeals

Local Complaint Form F Helps guide your discussion with the employee F You can fill it out as employee tells story then have them sign F Gets employee to both tell their story and tell what they want as a resolution F Makes it clear that the employee wants union to represent them. F NEVER give the Local Complaint form to Management. It is an internal union document.

Timelines F Grievance – 30 days from incident F EEO Complaint – 45 days from incident F MSPB Complaint – 30 days from action F Unfair Labor Practice – 6 months from incident F Office of Special Counsel – none F OPM Appeals F FLSA Coding – none, but lookback for pay can only be 2-3 years F Classification – none.

Recruiting

F Federal workplaces are “open shops.” All employees are represented whether they join or not, so…… A steward is the Local’s number one recruiter.

Recruiting F Ask, ask, ask! No one should ever be able to say that they didn’t join the Union because no one asked. F Be sure that BUEs know what the Union is doing, so they don’t have the excuse of “what does the Union do for me?” F Consider how you do representation for non- members – Do you assist with EEO, MSPB, OSC? Or not?

Negotiations F Stewards may be called upon to: F Negotiate with management regarding proposed changes to conditions of employment F Initiate proposals on behalf of the bargaining unit

Union image F Union officials ARE the union in the eyes of most employees F Exhibit professional behavior – treat all persons with respect and dignity F Follow the rules F Be visible and active

A few nuts and bolts…

Know your stuff… F Review the materials from this week (several times) F Review the contract F Review the law F Get more training F Talk to other Union reps

… and know where to look it up F In the binder from this training. F FLRA Website: F Merit System Protection Board: F Forest Service Directives: F MOUs: F FS Partnership Council: F USDA Directives: F Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide -- Passman and Kaplan F Broida – FLRA and MSPB case summary books

Meetings

F As a Union rep, you will be in a lot of meetings with employees and management. F Formal meetings F As representative of the Bargaining Unit F As employee’s representative F Investigations F ADR F Negotiations F Partnership F Meeting new employees

Guidelines for all meetings F Be prepared: Management needs to give reasonable notice for formal meetings. F Prepare a list of what you want to cover during the meeting. F Equity principle -- When you have your Union “hat” on, you are equal with management. F Ask who will be at the meeting BEFORE you go. If you are bringing someone to the meeting, be sure to let management know beforehand. F Take notes. F Focus on interests. F Watch out for “ok” reply. It can be interpreted as assent. F If you lose your cool… apologize!

Caucuses F Time for you to speak alone with the employee you are representing F Employee is frustrated F You are unclear on where the discussion is or should be going F Employee is looking exhausted F Employee is damaging his/her case F Management has made an offer F Often party calling the caucus is asked to report back from the caucus, especially in negotiations.

Attending formal meetings F Provides “face” of the Union to employees F Listen for issues that are arising, especially with respect to policies that are changing and affecting working conditions F Ask questions to clarify what is being said. F If something doesn’t sound right, it is OK for you to try to correct the issue.

Formal meetings – representing Bargaining Unit F These include any staff meeting when working conditions are discussed F Safety meetings F Staff meetings where policies are discussed F Orientation meetings F Helps Union be visible F Be prepared to say something at the meetings F Formal meetings are often the key to Union visibility!! Don’t miss this opportunity.

Formal meetings – Individual representation F Grievance meetings, discussing workplace issue, oral discipline responses, etc. F Represent the interests of the employee. F Know their rights. F Know the strength and weaknesses of their case/arguments. F Help employee tell their story… and keep them from harming their case. F Call caucuses when needed.

Investigative meetings F Investigator may be FS employee or contractor. It should NOT be law enforcement for an administrative investigation. F Clarify the purpose of the investigation, preferably prior to the meeting. F In accordance with Article 4, “During an investigation, the employee may ask whether or not they are being directed to answer and will be provided a written statement of this, upon request.” F Thus: Always counsel the employee to ask for a written statement

Investigative meetings (continued) F You are representing the interests of the employee. Counsel the employee prior to the meeting: F Employee must answer the questions in an administrative investigation. F Answer the question asked, no more. Employee generally should not go “on and on” in their response. F If questions are too broad, ask the investigator to be more specific. No fishing trips. F You can assist the employee in answering the questions. F Employee will be asked to sign a statement when done. Be sure that the statement is an accurate reflection of what was said.

Negotiations Meetings F Get interest-based training! And use it! F Union and management reps should be equal numbers. F Official note taker. F Facilitator. F Document decisions. Initial off on the official notes and decisions in the meeting and get final agreement finished up right after. F MORE on negotiations on Friday!

Meeting follow up F Document the meeting and decisions in a signed agreement, particularly for settlement discussions and negotiations. F Identify “deadline” dates for getting decisions implemented. F Do your part of the follow up. F If there are no other notes or written agreements, follow up phone calls/meetings with short s summarizing agreement. End each with “Please let me know if this is not correct.”

Internal Union Functioning

F Function as a cohesive unit: You’ll already be one step ahead of management! F Meet regularly as an executive board/steward committee. F Keep each other informed about cases and upcoming issues. F Have an internal policy about submitting documents to management: F Who can submit them F Who needs to review them F Seek advice (on the job training) from other union officials. F Be sure you are getting IAM and NFFE communications. Contact NFFE to be sure they have your officer information correct.

Internal Union Functioning F Get training! Use your bank of hours each year. F IAM Info – Steward Updates F IAM training – Winpisinger Center F FSC training -- RENO F Keep files and information in shared area, so work can continue when individuals are gone. F Local account F Local electronic filing space F Local paper files F These documents are LOCAL records, not the property of individual union officials.

Record keeping F Notes of meetings F Who was present F Decisions made F Next steps F Case files F Employee complaint form F Meeting notes F Formal actions F Step 1 Grievance and Response F Step 2 Grievance and Response F Settlement offers and final settlement

Record keeping (cont’d) F Negotiations F Proposals F Ground rules F Notes taken during the negotiations F Draft agreements F Final agreements It is important to keep negotiations history for future reference, in case issues come up regarding the intent of the parties.

What every steward needs! F 2 Copies of the Master Agreement F One for you, with all your notes F One to give away F A list of all your bargaining unit employees F Copies of SF-1187 forms F Local Lodge Complaint Forms F Federal Employees Almanac (or other good resource) F An account and internet access F New member kits – Available from NFFE