Our Member Action Team structure

Mobile App for Stewards & MAT Leaders

Stewards and MAT Leaders need access to basic information about the members they are assigned to, and an easy way to record what concerns are raised, and what the outcome was.

This information needs to be reviewed by the Executive Board to assess our progress toward our goals and develop support for areas where we need to improve.

We've developed an app for iOS (click here) and Android (click here) that gives Stewards MAT Leaders access to the basic contact information for the members they are assigned to (phone and email), and a simple way to log the kind of help that the member needs.

Setting up the app

1. Download the app: iOS (click here) and Android (click here).

2. Log in as "Staff": Check with Nate Franco to get a log-in and password.

3. Intro video: If you missed our last MAT committee meeting, please watch a short introductory video below on how to use the app. (NOTE: on iPhone, the app will not appear visible with 'Dark Mode' on, so please turn 'Dark Mode' off while using the app)

4. Fill out this short survey: let us know how its going and if you need more help! If you have not yet done so, you can submit the names of members you would like to be assigned to in the survey.

Using the app

When a member reaches out to a Steward or MAT Leader directly, the Steward or MAT Leader should start by looking up their profile in the app and make sure the contact information is correct.

Tap the 'action' button, and select 'Take Survey', and fill out the 'Get Help' survey. Be sure to categorize the issue, and enter a brief summary of the issue, and what your initial next steps are. It should be 1-2 sentences, something like, "Member concerned about not receiving proper pay, and provided a pay stub for review. I will review with Chief Steward John Smith and get back to member".

Once you've been able to get a substantive update, go back into the app, and use 'Log Contact' (also under the 'actions'), to enter your update. Again, it could be brief, such as, "Member is missing Recurring Increment Payment. Chief Steward John Smith will help us initiate an inquiry to our payroll department".

Members can get your support through our website

When members fill out the Get Help form on our website, their assigned Steward or MAT Leader will get a notification email. Within an hour, the information that the member submitted online will be visible in the app, under the "Logs" tab. After reviewing what they submitted, follow the same steps as above:

Follow up on their concern, and log any substantive updates using the 'Log Contact' action.

Training resources

• DC37 Education Fund

  • General Shop Steward
  • Advanced Grievance Handling & Intro to Arbitration
  • Lillian Roberts Women’s Leadership Academy 
  • Parliamentary Procedure

• Local 768

  • Attend our monthly MAT Committee meetings for on-going training
  • We plan to coordinate with DC37 Ed-Fund for a Steward course focused on our specific titles, contracts and most common grievances. We'll notify members when this is available.
    

• AFSCME Handbooks and Manuals

  • Steward’s Handbook
  • Internal Organizing Manual
  • Officer’s Manual

• AFSCME online training videos

  • Online Academy: Library of training videos

• Learning from others in the labor movement

  • Labor Notes: Monthly magazine, periodic workshops and bi-annual conference

Setting up a new email or phone number for union business

A number of Stewards and MAT Leaders have reported that they would like to keep their personal email and cell phone private, but still make it easy for members to contact them. If you have this concern, the solution we're proposing is that you create a new Gmail account and obtain a Google Voice phone number for it. Here're some guides:

• Create a new Gmail account (you can also forward all email to your primary email address if you like)
• Create a Google Voice phone number
  • This can be used for both incoming and outgoing calls and texts, and receive voicemail
  • Watch a short video about setting it up

Our union contracts

Review the structure of our contracts here, along with some selected contract summaries. The full documents and 'pay orders' are available here. Formal job descriptions are also available here.

Benefits

Review the structure of our benefit plans here.