Editor’s Note: CSEA shop stewards are the backbone of our union. Not only do they serve as organizers, advocates and educators, but they may also be your greatest confidant. Stewards are often the face of our union for many of our members. It’s for these reasons that CSEA is celebrating our members who volunteer to take on this critical role.
Our latest “Principal Steward” is Queen E. Cole, a teacher at the West End Community Center in the City of Long Beach. She has been a shop steward since 2014 and a CSEA member since 2005.
Long Island Reporter (LIR): Why did you decide to become a shop steward?
Queen Cole (QC): Well, I didn’t decide — I was chosen. I always say that I’m one of the lucky ones because someone saw potential in me and decided to ask me to do it.
Norman Wilson (City of Long Beach Unit Executive Vice President) and John Mooney (City of Long Beach Unit President) asked me to become a shop steward, after they helped me work through some of my own workplace issues. They thought it would be a good way for me to pay if forward and give back some of what I had been given.
LIR: Why do you think union membership is important?
QC: When I wasn’t a union member, I didn’t have things like sick days. With a union, you have a certain amount of sick days, personal days and vacation time. You get to take [leave time]to [care for your children]. There’s just so many benefits that I have now that I could have used when my children (who are now 22 and 35) were younger. It also offers an overall security and protection.
LIR: Do you ever talk to other people about why they should be a union member?
QC: Oh yeah. Even if they’re not in our union, I talk to people about our union. My sister is a bus driver and I tell her about what we do in Long Beach. I’ve also spoken to union members outside of CSEA who don’t get the benefits that we get.
LIR: Why do you think CSEA specifically is a great union?
QC: We have U-N-I-T-Y, as Queen Latifah put it. We are meeting with people who don’t just email you or send you a piece of paper. Our union members protect each other and are there for you when say, a family member dies. I’ve been there; my union brothers and sisters turned out full force to support me at a very dark time. I was short of money and they had a collection amongst our brotherhood and sisterhood for me. My unit members were there for me and I will never go back to being without them. Once a union member, always a union member.
LIR: What’s the most rewarding thing about being a shop steward?
QC: Seeing people who used to be down on our union have a change of heart and become supportive of it. There was someone who said that CSEA wasn’t going to do anything for them and started questioning why they should come to meetings or union related functions.
In spite of their negativity, when this person was in a time of sorrow, CSEA stepped up to help them. Our unit members gave out of their pockets to help that person financially.
A lot of people don’t see how important being a part of a union is when they don’t need something, but when they do need help, then they see. All they have to do is pick up the phone and they’ll have representation.
LIR: What’s the most common question that you get asked by members?
QC: When are we going to get a raise?
What people have to remember is what we have to go through to get raises. If you haven’t been coming to member meetings and supporting us when we go before city council, you don’t know. They also don’t know what we gave up so that you could not only get a raise, but also have a job. Our unit members have had to give up vacation time so we could prevent anyone in our unit from getting laid off.
LIR: All these things get discussed at membership meetings? Tell me more about why it’s important to attend membership meetings.
QC: [Meetings are important] because you will know what’s going on. Giving someone a sheet of information doesn’t explain the feeling of emotion and support when you are at a member meeting with other union members.
We’ve had city hall filled with nothing but blue CSEA sweatshirts and T-shirts. We let everyone know who runs Long Beach. At those meetings, you really get to see firsthand what’s going on. Picture 200 people getting up and walking out of city hall, letting the city know that we aren’t accepting what they’re trying to give us. There’s usually only about five people left in the room, once we leave. At that point, city council knows who has the power.
LIR: What was shop steward training like?
QC: We just had one in September; it was a two-night event. It was very helpful. It helped us learn how to effectively communicate with our members. We learned how we would get someone involved, how to keep activists involved and how to deal with peoples’ likes and dislikes. You always have to be listening. The class also showed me how to speak to our members more clearly and organize my thoughts. It helped me not to get as upset with people when they don’t want to immediately get involved.
LIR: What advice would you give to a new shop steward?
QC: Don’t let your friends or family who aren’t supportive of our union activities detour you from getting more involved.
Don’t be afraid. Even your supervisors will respect you more. When they see that people from higher offices start showing up when you call, their tune changes.
Before I got involved, I never even looked at my contract. I didn’t know better. A lot of times, you expect people to just feed you the information. I would go to management and ask questions, but they will tell you anything they feel like telling you. After I became an activist, I had a supervisor tell me, ‘It was so much better when you weren’t involved.’ Supervisors don’t want you to be educated so they can take advantage.
LIR: What do you want people to know about being a shop steward?
QC: You’re always a work in progress. There’s always something more that I can learn. You can also apply what you learn as a shop steward to your daily working practices. It’s important to keep up with what is going on in our union.
— Wendi Bowie
