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  • Home
  • Contact
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LEOSU-VA LOCAL 104
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights

​On the Job: Avoiding the Pitfalls

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Stewards are the heart and soul of LEOSU-DC-style rank-and-file unionism. Stewards represent the “LEOSU-DC in action” as the first line of defense against employer abuses-acting as organizer, counselor, peacemaker, and troublemaker. And that’s a tough job.

There are a lot of potential pitfalls facing LEOSU-DC Stewards, too. These are not always possible to avoid, but listing some of the most important ones should help us to be on guard as we represent LEOSU-DC members on the job.


  • Failure to Organize — Stewards are critical to organizing the members. We need to be thinking about how each grievance can be used to increase participation, build the union, and create new leaders (even future stewards).
 
  • Promising Remedies too Quickly — Do not pass judgment on a grievance until a thorough investigation has been completed. Wait to make a decision until after you’ve talked with the grievant and witnesses, consulted the contract, and examined your company’s rules and past practices.
 
  • Failure to Represent Fairly — Not giving an aggrieved member fair treatment makes the union vulnerable to a lawsuit for breach of its fair representation duty. Besides, this undermines the whole purpose of the union and the very idea of solidarity.
 
  • Making Backroom Deals — Never secretly trade grievances with management. Every member is always entitled to a fair hearing.
 
  • Meeting Alone with Management — Being alone with management discussing a grievance arouses suspicion among members, allows bosses to change their stories, and denies the grievant an opportunity to participate in a vital union activity (to say nothing of undermining the spirit of rank-and-file unionism).
 
  • Failure to Adhere to Timelines — Adhere to the grievance schedule stated in the contract. If an extension is needed, get the employer’s permission in writing.
 
  • Failure to Get Settlements in Writing — Putting grievance settlements in writing helps to clarify the issues and keep the agreement alive. It also serves as a record for dealing with similar problems in the future — and as a way of reviewing issues for contract bargaining.
 
  • Failure to Publicize Victories — Publicizing every victory helps to build a local union and boosts all members’ morale.
 
  • Failure to Speak with New Employees — The union’s best chance for finding and keeping new members is one-on-one contact with a steward. Besides giving new workers information, this helps build personal relationships and includes new workers in the union from the outset.


Remembering these tips should help make the job easier and help to avoid some of the pitfalls that can be problems for any LEOSU-DC shop steward.

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course providing up to date Information for Stewards, Local Union Officers, and LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Members who want to know more about their rights, the law & its protections, workplace issues and the benefits of having an LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Union Contract. 
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Workplace Rights
  • Duty of Fair Representation
  • Union Rights – Management Rights – Recognition Clause
  • Weingarten Rights
  • Steward’s Rights

Negotiations/Contract
  • Negotiating a Union Contract
  • Breaking in a New Boss
  • Mid Contract Bargaining Changes
  • Mandatory and Permissive Subjects of Bargaining

Protecting Jobs
  • Protecting Jobs, Union Wages and Benefits

Worker-Friendly Laws
  • Using the FMLA
  • Military Service and Members’ Rights
  • Using ADA in the Workplace

Effective LEOSU-DC Local Unions
  • What’s the Union Ever Done for Me? Getting Free-Riders to Push
  • Welcoming New Employees Into the Union
  • Building a Healthy Union – Checklist

Grievance Handling
  • Union Members Have A Right to the Grievance Procedure
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 1
  • Information Requests
  • Investigating Grievances
  • Just Cause – Using the Seven Tests
  • On the Job: Avoiding the Pitfalls
  • Winning Past Practice Grievances
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 2
  • Investigating Grievances – NLRA
  • Whether or Not to Arbitrate
  • Shop Steward Books by Work Rights Press
  • Shop Steward Grievance Form

Collective Bargaining

  • Collective Bargaining Rights​
  • Notice of Bargaining Obligation NLRB

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©2017 LEOSU-VA Local 104, Law Enforcement Officers Security Unions LEOSU-DC, a division of LEOSU, affiliated with the Law Enforcement Officers Security & Police Benevolent Association (LEOS-PBA) all rights reserved. ​
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