How To Become A Union Steward: What It Is and Career Path

What is a union steward and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a union steward. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.4 an hour? That's $61,150 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 58,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreUnion StewardUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,150

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 9.14%

Black or African American 8.31%

Hispanic or Latino 15.36%

Unknown 5.07%

White 61.48%

Gender

female 32.37%

male 67.63%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a union steward

Explore union steward education requirements

Most common union steward degrees

Bachelor's

43.4 %

Associate

21.0 %

High School Diploma

17.5 %

Start to develop specific union steward skills

Skills	Percentages
Disciplinary Actions	10.94%
Collective Bargaining	8.05%
Arbitration	7.52%
Contract Negotiations	7.40%
Conflict Resolution	6.84%

Complete relevant union steward training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New union stewards learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a union steward based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real union steward resumes.

Research union steward duties and responsibilities

Manage all aspects of busy office including data entry, filing, payroll, taxes, answering phones and ordering supplies.
Keep a detail schedule of the upcoming arbitration hearings and submit the witness list when due.
Process grievances for union members, write reports, perform investigations, attend arbitration and settlement conferences.
Mediate the disciplinary process between labor force and management

Prepare your union steward resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your union steward resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a union steward resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable union steward resume templates

Build a professional union steward resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your union steward resume.