Article VII - Stewards

  1. Duties and Term of Office

    1. Stewards shall be elected in all departments by the bargaining unit membership or appointed by the unit executive for a term of two years, to begin April 1 and end March 31.

      Their duties shall include the following: To receive and investigate grievances, to sign up new members, to enforce the collective agreement, to keep members informed on Union matters and to carry out such other duties as may be assigned, all subject to these bylaws.

    2. No term of this Article shall prevent any steward from acting in the interest of any member of the bargaining unit.

  2. Steward Elections

    1. Elections shall be held at departmental (constituency) meetings to be called by the unit executive. To be eligible for election as a steward, a member must be nominated and seconded by members of his or her constituency and be present at the constituency election meeting or have a letter of intent to stand for election delivered to a unit officer before the start of the constituency election meeting. Wherein no member of a said constituency is nominated, a steward for that term may be appointed by the unit executive.

    2. Where l/3 of a constituency's membership expresses dissatisfaction with its steward in writing, the Executive Committee shall order a new election, with the incumbent steward to remain in office until re-elected or replaced.

    3. Resignations of stewards shall be submitted to the Executive Committee which shall have the authority to call by-elections.

    4. The Unit Executive shall determine in January of each election year, the constituencies for steward representation and the number of stewards to be elected in each.  These decisions may be appealed to the Local Nominations and Elections Committee.