Bargaining through Cooperation: The Impact of Labor Management Teams on Steward Identity and Performance

Abstract

Under conditions of the New Deal–formed industrial relations system, stewards were the foremost foot soldiers of a union power countervailing managerial control. But over the past two decades joint labor-management teams (LMT) have begun to challenge the role of the union steward. The following article empirically assesses how teams impact the performance of stewards. It suggests that while the workshop influence of teams is mixed for both labor and management, how the steward comes to define the role of workplace leader will have a great influence on what he or she considers to be a legitimate task or a conflicting responsibility.