The often (but not always) thankless job of a shop steward

We posted the above meme to the Teamsters Facebook page and got some great comments -- and some thanks to individual stewards for what is often a thankless job.

We thought we'd share some of the comments with you:

Mark Ackerman 

Us stewards are here for you so be there for us! Local 31

Vincent J Conti:

I was a steward with Local 282 NY originally started in 1972 ,with the union over 30yrs & in my experience over the years there were two important factors, #1 you needed a strong individual as steward, a person who didn't care how popular he was with management (I wasn't ) #2 a steward is only as good as his men make him, meaning having full support of the barn list !! Worked for me & my men !!

Brad Davis

I was a shop steward at ups for 5 years. Loved helping my brothers and sisters of Teamsters local 391. 

Veronica Taylor 

My husband is steward at his shop...there are no rewards other than knowing you are helping maintain working conditions and making sure the company follows the contract. He gets calls all times of day, and the middle of the night, and answers every one. If he doesn't know an answer he gets the answer.

Jadaryl Harris 

Your reward for being a steward is in heaven worker's look at you as the bad guy for standing up for the contact protecting their rights making sure they have safe working conditions and are being treated far unless it benefits them!!! You have to be strong need no pat on the back for doing what's right helping people have to be a true calling!!

Tina Sorrell Gerba 

I have been a shop steward for 6 years. Teamsters' Local 206. Here's a "Thank you" to Bob Garrett my fellow shop steward. 

Steven Hannah was a chief steward at ABF Oak. 

My thanks came from being able to keep and maintain conditions and equality across the board. Most don't understand the tireless struggle of a steward ... as a steward you can't take the position wanting to be thanked, you take the position to assist your local in keeping conditions and enforcing the contract. Your thanks will come from the knowledge that you did the best you could for the union membership.

Charles A. Ganzenmuller Sr. 

Being a steward has always been a thankless job but the most important in a union ,you dont become a Steward to be popular you become one to keep a balance between worker and boss and protect the contract voted on by the membership -30 yr retired Teamster 

Jack C. DiBenedetto

I am a shop steward. I had management throw a union contract in my face

Alan Garner 

I like to thank our shop steward, Chuck Reney, for putting in long hours and also being (in) a thankless job.

Harold Chapman Thank you to my shop steward, Rich Breen, for all the good you do. 299 Detroit.

Cynthia Kalier-Costa 

I did it for 4 yrs, it was a thankless job. Lot of aggravation, no pay, and the bosses hate you more than fellow workers! But when it all comes together it's all worth it !!!

Josh Burdette 

UPS Teamsters Local 948 shop steward in Visalia Ca till I had to retire in 2012 after having 2 different double lung transplants. I'd go back in a second if I could.

David Swinford 

A very huge thank you to Mike Semanko at Local 41 in Claycomo, Mo. You are a huge asset to the local and to the entire Teamster organization.

This school bus shop steward helps make his yard better

Willie Barnes

Here's yet another story about a Teamster shop steward who made life better for school bus drivers on the job. We've told you about our Teamster brother Clay Morrison, who brought justice for a driver who'd lost his son at the Baumann Bus Co. on Long Island, and Kim Hafford, who fought for fairness at Durham in Jacksonville, Fla., and won. Today we bring you Willie Barnes, a shop steward at First Student. His story appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of the Drive Up Standards newsletter. To see his story and others, check out the newsletter here.

My name is Willie Barnes and I’ve been driving a school bus for 18 years. I’ve been a shop steward for approximately eight years.

I want to share a story about our yard, First Student’s St. Andrews terminal in Los Angeles.

I was on the negotiation committee for our five-year union contract with First Student and we have a strong contract.

First Student has a contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest district in the country. St. Andrews terminal is the central contractor yard for LAUSD because of its location, which is surrounded by L.A. schools.

First Student has purchased a new fleet of buses. Now the students and parents we transport daily feel safe. Our drivers appear motivated and happy to serve the customer, LAUSD, which is the major customer in school-busing in California. Ninety percent of our yard has gone green, meaning our buses are gas, propane and compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled, which helps the environment.

Our yard has received more routes than we can handle. We have drivers from other yards helping cover these routes. Some of these drivers are from other unions, but we have come together as a team to ensure our students’ safety. Our training department wasn’t able to train enough drivers before school started on August 13, 2013, so First Student temporarily moved drivers from its other facilities. St. Andrews is known as the central contractor yard for LAUSD and our drivers are very proud to work at this terminal.

I really enjoy my job as a driver. To all my fellow school bus drivers, let’s always remember that the cargo we transport is our future. As I tell my students, one day they may be a doctor, lawyer, judge, senator or president. When that child steps aboard your bus, the parents trust us to get them to and from school safely!

This Teamster steward brought fairness to her yard

Here's yet another story about a Teamster shop steward who made life better for school bus drivers on the job. Last week we told you about our Teamster brother Clay Morrison, who brought justice for a driver who'd lost his son at the Baumann Bus Co. on Long Island. This week we bring you Kim Hafford, who fought for fairness at Durham in Jacksonville, Fla., and won. Her story appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of the Drive Up Standards newsletter. To see her story and others, check out the newsletter here.

In 1994 when I became a bus driver, I never knew that an organization such as the Teamsters existed. After 14 years and relocating to Jacksonville, Fla., I began working for a private company called Durham.

What a wake-up call I received. There were so many unfair and unsafe practices going on that I almost gave up the job I loved. But once I became active with our Teamsters Local 512 it became apparent that I had a voice, and boy did I use it.

Favoritism was running rampant within the dispatch office at Durham and the supervisors would just look the other way.

Instead of having a rotating charter wheel in order to give every driver a chance to get a charter, dispatch was allowing their friends and sometimes family members to take all the trips they wanted, usually with the most hours. Drivers at the bottom of the seniority list would never receive a trip at all. When an emergency charter became available it usually went to the same driver, sometimes twice in one day. This incident was a wake-up call to my fellow drivers.

I contacted Teamsters Local 512’s business agent, Stewart Cauthan, and he immediately held a stewards election where I became chief steward at our yard. Now under the watchful eye of Teamsters Local 512, charters are being awarded fairly on a weekly basis. No longer are friends of management receiving all the trips. No longer are employees who disagree when they see something unfair or unsafe afraid to speak up.

Durham is no longer treating drivers and attendants as if they have no rights. As one we came together to demand what is rightfully ours: a fair wage, a safe workplace and fair and honest treatment of workers. But most important of all, we became “one voice.”

The voice of all united Teamsters was heard in Jacksonville and I could not be more proud to have been a part of it.