Aunion representative,union steward,^[1] orshop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as atrades/labour union member and official.Rank-and-file members of the union hold this position voluntarily (throughdemocraticelection by fellow workers or sometimes by appointment of a higher union body) while maintaining their role as anemployee of the firm. As a result, the union steward becomes a significant link and conduit of information between the union leadership and rank-and-file workers. Above the steward level, a bargaining unit chair is typically elected to coordinate union activities across the unit, lead formalnegotiations, and represent the unit in dealings with management and the union’s executive leadership.

The duties of a union steward vary according to each trades union'sconstitutional mandate for the position. In general, most union stewards perform the following functions:

• Monitor and enforce the provisions of thecollective bargaining agreement (labour contract) to ensure both the firm and union worker are not violating the terms of the agreement.
• Ensure that the firm is in compliance with all national, state and locallaws andregulations.
• Represent and defend fellow workers whom the firm believes violated company policy or the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement, often through thegrievance process.
• Communicate and disseminate official union policy, memos and directives to workers in the shop.
• Popularize and promote union consciousness and values in the workplace.

Unlike other union representatives, stewards work on theshop floor, connecting workers with union officials at regional or national levels.The role of shop stewards may vary from being a mere representative of a larger national union towards independent structures with the power of collective bargaining in the workplace.

In the United Kingdom, a network calledShop Stewards Movement organised shop stewards against the First World War. In Germany, a network of shop stewards calledRevolutionary Stewards took an important role in the revolutionary "January Strike".^[2]

Father of the chapel (FoC) ormother of the chapel (MoC) are the titles in the United Kingdom andAustralasia referring to ashop steward representing members of atrades union in aprinting office or injournalism. The FoC or MoC is assisted by theclerk of the chapel or by adeputy FoC/MoC. In the printing trade, a chapel is the traditional name given to a meeting ofcompositors. The name originates in the early history of printing in Great Britain, though theNational Union of Journalists states that the precise origins of the terms are unclear.^[3]

• John Benson,Unions at the Workplace: Shop Steward Leadership and Ideology, 1991.
• Ralf Hoffrogge,Working-Class Politics in the German Revolution. Richard Müller, the Revolutionary Shop Stewards and the Origins of the Council Movement, Brill Publications 2014,ISBN 978-9-00421-921-2.
• Y. Rittau and T. Dundon, 2010, The roles and functions of shop stewards in workplace partnership: evidence from the Republic of Ireland, Employee Relations, Vol 32(1), p. 10-27.

• Labor relations
• Trade unionists

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