Training Stewards To Battle Over What's Not Covered

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Many workers think their union's there to negotiate and enforce their contract, but in the federal sector, it's changes in working conditions and personnel policies that are not covered by a contract where a union also proves useful. AFSCME Council 26 held a training session Wednesday for 45 local union leaders on just this kind of bargaining, which Council 26 says "goes on all the time, and is the union's best chance to organize new members by showing them what the union is all about." The daylong training session also prepared local leaders to successfully handle contract negotiations as well. Council 26 holds such sessions monthly to train and equip local union leaders with the skills needed to handle the array of issues that arise in workplaces around DC. 
– report/photo by Boaz Young-El, AFL-CIO Union Summer Intern