Our Union
We are the United Steelworkers, North America’s largest industrial union. We’re 1.2 million members and retirees strong in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. We proudly represent men and women who work in nearly every industry there is.
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Welcome to the NEW Local 285 website!
Rapid Response News
Rapid Response, our union’s nonpartisan grassroots activist program, provides an opportunity for every USW member to weigh in on legislation concerning labor and work-related issues. By joining together, we encourage government actions that will positively impact our families, contracts and communities. Learn more!
Union Plus Benefits
Did you know your USW membership entitles you to discounts on wireless, car rentals, movie tickets, car insurance and more? Visit the Union Plus website to view current discounts and programs.
Download the USW App
Get USW event info, news alerts and even your union card right on your smart phone with the United Steelworkers app! It’s free and available for both Apple and Android users.
USW Publications
Want to learn more about your union working for you? Check out new and archived USW publications, including USW@work, sector newsletters and more.
Goals of a Shop Steward
- Keep yourself informed on union affairs.
- Serve as an example to your members.
- Keep the members informed on union policies and union activities.
- Attend union meetings and union affairs. Encourage and bring the members from your department. Don't chide members for missing meetings. Think of other ways to communicate with them.
- Meet the new members early, inform them, educate them, help them become members - make them more than dues payers.
- Get your location to act as a union - have them stick together.
- Act as a leader - do not let personal likes or dislikes prejudice your actions as a grievance representative.
- Fight discrimination, whether it be overt or very discreet. Discourage prejudice of any kind.
- Keep accurate and up-to-date records. Write it down.
- Do not promise, if you cannot deliver.
- Know how to refer to the union contract, by-laws, and international constitutions. If you are not sure, seek help so that you can become familiar with the documents.
- Encourage and support the union's activities on behalf of organizing the unorganized.
- Inform the membership of union services. Encourage them to take advantage of not only the services the union sponsors outright, but those that the union helps subsidize. If your local does not already have a community services representative, encourage the local in creating one.
- Fight, whenever you meet it, the anti-union element. You can best do this by being informed and being dedicated to the labor movement.
- Do not hesitate or stall. If you do not know, admit you do not know. Then try to get the answer.
- Keep your workers informed on sources of information. Give pertinent information whenever a worker wants it.
- In dealing with the management, remember that you are the elected or appointed representative of your fellow members. Never consider yourself to be inferior to management representatives. You are always their equal.
- Be proud of your position. Remember you are a union representative of your local union which has the full support of tens of thousands of members bound together in an international union, with the support of millions of other union members.
- Investigate every grievance as if it were your own. Keep the member informed. Make sure you keep your deadlines. There is no excuse for missing a time limit. Research every grievance as if it were going to arbitration but try to resolve it at the lowest possible level. Keep your local union informed of the status of each grievance.
- Attend and encourage attendance at any labor education program that might be available to you and your members.
- Remember your goal is to be the best union representative you can be. Always strive for this goal. Excellence has no substitute.
USW National News
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Rapid Response Action Call: Senate Budget Plan Favors the Wealthy, Hurts Working Families
Click here to download this Action Call as a printable PDF. Today, July 1, 2025, the U.S. Senate passed a devastating budget bill that places a heavy burden on working people and their communities. He... —
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Defending Our Defenders: Union Veterans Demand Action in D.C.
More than 40 Veterans of Steel activists traveled to Washington, D.C., on June 5th and 6th to lobby and rally on behalf of military veterans and to pressure Congress to protect those who protected the... —
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Ahlstrom Paper Workers Join USW
In his 20 years of work as a union roofer, Hamlet Hernandez learned the difference that a union makes, not only through improved wages and benefits, but also in scheduling, health and safety, and othe... —
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Rapid Response Turns 30
In 1995, workers saw a shifting political landscape in Washington, D.C. The North American Free Trade Agreement had taken effect a year earlier, and the 1994 elections saw an anti-worker majority take... —
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From the SOAR President: Don’t be Fooled by the Smoke Screens
Having just returned from the SOAR Conference and USW Convention, I could easily write an article that would fill many pages, but I will focus on a few critical issues that are important to us. At the... —
