Steward trainings attracting record numbers

More members than ever are interested in becoming stewards and steward trainings are filling up quickly with new sessions being continually developed and added.  

“I think it’s about the attention, resources, the love we’ve giving to our stewards that are making people want to be a part of it. The potential layoffs at the federal level and the governor’s Return to Office mandate have stirred up some emotions for people to want to get involved,” Vice President and Employee Rights Committee Chair Angie Halseth said.  

MAPE offers four steward trainings: Basic Steward Training, Advanced Steward Training, Organizing as a Steward Training (OST) and Contract Steward Training. The focus of OST is helping members identify organizing opportunities and showing them how to build a story that can lead to an action, be it a march on the boss in a single agency or a larger march on the Capitol. 

The newest session, Contract Steward Training, debuts on May 30 and is already full, and will feature exempt and non-exempt employees, Family and Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, overtime hours and other topics. Two additional future Contract Steward Trainings are being scheduled.    

“We implemented Steward Training 2.0 last year, which directed stewards on how to make a plan, do outreach and train stewards in their locals and regions. This year’s 3.0 version will build on this,” Halseth said.

Employee Rights Committee members like Region 5 Steward Director Kristin Loomer are actively recruiting stewards in their districts. “Taking the steward trainings has given me more confidence. I am excited for the upcoming training on contracts and looking forward to digging deeper. I want to look at it through another lens: what does the employer see? How can I use that to protect my members who need assistance?” Loomer asked.

MAPE Business Agent David Hearth, who often co-leads many of the trainings, thinks the increased interest in them can be attributed to the excellent organizing work MAPE is doing and “seeing a lot of younger people going through the trainings who, frankly, don’t know much about unions. The concepts of being in a union and being active and participatory, and volunteering your time is attractive to a lot of people coming into the union. Twenty years ago, when I first started doing this, I said we were going to be popular again,” he laughed.

Halseth, Loomer and Hearth urge members who are interested in learning more about MAPE and how it works to sign up for Basic Steward Training. They also urge current stewards who haven’t taken a class in a while to check out the trainings. “We have a very robust program where we are teaching a lot of varying skills in both the organizing and enforcement areas – reenforcing that stewards are the backbone of our union,” Hearth added.