HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

2704 Sutherland Street, Houston, Texas 77023

713-623-8891 FAX 713-623-2711

STEWARD HANDBOOK
 HFT STAFF
Name Title e-mail
Zeph Capo President zcapo@hft2415.org
Starla Assistant to the President sreichek@hft2415.org
Reichek
Andy Dewey Executive Vice adewey@hft2415.org
President/Business
Manager
Obie Administrative Assistant othompson@hft2415.org
Thompson
Sonia HFT Legal sgonzalez@hft2415.org
Gonzalez Council/Grievance
Director
Vilma Field Coordinator vmorera@hft2415.org
Morera
Corina Ortiz Field Representative cortiz@hft2415.org
Kimbal Field Representative kurrutia@hft2415.org
Urrutia
Mable Caleb Field Representative mcaleb@hft2415.org
Lori Lollar Field llollar@hft2415.org
Representative/Organizer
Ashira Field aadwoa@hft2415.org
Adwoa Representative/Organizer
Tiffany Organizer tdavis@hft2415.org
Davis
Phyllis Organizer pruffin@hft2415.org
Ruffin
Daniel Digital/Political dvasquez@hft2415.org
Vasquez Organizer
 Job Description
Building Steward
1. Recruit members to join your Campus Action Team by soliciting help with the
following:
a. active recruitment of new members
b. distribution of union material
c. attendance at Zone meetings, rep assemblies and leadership academies

2. Attend or send a member to the Zone Meetings and rep assemblies

3. Conduct monthly ten-minute membership meetings on campus to provide information

to members.

4. Work with your staff representative to design a working recruitment program for your
building.

5. Communicate regularly with your staff representative of changes in your campus

membership and campus concerns.

6. Set up campus meetings with HFT staff.

 Steward Instructions

1. Review membership list and campus staff roster and make corrections. Check:
a. New employees
b. transfers
c. resignations

2. Distribute green member update cards and return to HFT field representative

3. Send your representative your class room number and lunch and planning time
schedule.

4. Contact new teachers and staff about joining HFT

5. Put up or refresh HFT bulletin board in lounge

6. Make an email group of campus HFT members so you can quickly forward any emails
from HFT staff to your campus members.

7. Schedule a campus ten-minute meeting monthly.

8. Send HFT staff person your campus roster and map.

9. Work with your HFT rep/organizer to recruit a team to help you build membership
and distribute HFT materials (Campus Action Team).
Recruiting New Members
 Mailouts
HFT sends mailouts to our stewards for distribution to members and non-members.
When you receive a package, open it immediately since some mailouts are time sensitive
and need to go into mailboxes right away (such as invitations to events and in-services)

Mailouts that come with an enrollment form printed on them go to ALL staff and
one goes in the principal's box. The count is often off since it is provided by HISD and
there is a lag time in getting us the numbers. So if you are short, prioritize to non-
members.
Dear New Colleague,

As the Building steward for The Houston Federation of Teachers, I would like to
welcome you to both HISD and our campus.

I would like to offer my help in any areas that appear confusing. HISD has a mountain of
paper work and procedures for you to master prior to having the children arrive. If I can
be of any assistance in cutting through the procedural red tape, please come see me.

Should you have any questions concerning the Houston area, I will be more than happy to
share my knowledge of the area with you.

As the on campus representative of the Federation, I want you to know that I am here to
help in way possible.

Here's hoping that your first year with HISD is successful. If you have a few minutes,
come by my room so that we can meet.

Sincerely,

Building Steward

Room number ____________

TOP SECRET
Successful Membership
Recruitment Techniques
 Texas AFT
Leadership Training
1. GET EVERY UNION MEMBER INVOLVED.

Throughout your membership program, make an effort

to involve all members! When members take an active
part in your program, even in a small way, they
become personally committed to it and interested in
seeing that the union’s goals are reached.

2. HAVE A PLAN.
No program can work well unless it is well-organized. Know who you are
inviting and how you will persuade them to join. Share the workload. One
person cannot do it all.

3. IF YOU DON’T ASK, THEY WON’T JOIN.

There are people out there waiting to join, but no one

has ever asked them. The best building block to
membership is one-one-one contact.
4. DON’T GIVE UP WITH THE FIRST “NO.”

Today’s NO could be tomorrow’s leader.

People will often say no because they don’t
know much about AFT. Getting people to join
is an educational process. Keep going back
until they are educated.

MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT IN YOUR SCHOOL OR

WORKSITE

Membership recruitment within your school or worksite must follow a systemized

approach. Its success depends not only upon the serious commitment of the union
members in your building or site, but also upon the degree of organization involved. The
basic structure for an in-school membership drive should include at least the following
four phases:

1. Form a leadership team.

2. Identify future members.
3. Contact prospective members.
4. Follow up.

FORMING A CAMPUS ACTION TEAM

The following items should be considered when initially establishing an on-site Campus
Action Team.

1. The Building Representative can’t do everything. The activism of all union members
is essential if the union is to grow. If you’re the only member, sign up someone new.
You now have a Leadership Team of two!

2. Depending on the size of your worksite, a representative group of the most active
AFT members should be encouraged to participate. Consider job classification for
support personnel, subject area, building or site location, lunch periods, conference
periods or breaks.
3. Membership is an ongoing process. The regularity (bi-weekly at least, weekly at best)
of team meetings determines to a large degree the success of membership recruitment.

IDENTIFYING FUTURE MEMBERS

Once the Leadership Team has been formed, identifying future members is the first step
in membership recruitment. It involves pre-planning and is, in effect, the “lesson plan”
for building the union in your school. The following strategies can significantly enhance
the “contact phase” of a membership drive.

1. Know the personnel in your school:

• Develop a list of potential members.
• Identify your current members.
• Identify members of the other organizations as well as unaffiliated people.
• MOST IMPORTANT: Discover the new teachers and staff in your building or
worksite. (Are they new to the system or merely new to your building or site?)

2. Make a “PARALLEL INTERESTS” assessment of the staff

• Which union members “match up” best with non-members in terms of potential
personal contact? [Who has the same lunch period or conference period or is in
the same department, etc.]
• Team members should seek the input of these union members for each of the
prospective members. This involvement by the members increases their sense of
solidarity and importance in, and to, the union.

3. Prepare a set of contact cards for every prospective member in your building or
worksite. Consider how your assessments will be best tracked. Is there a database to
enter notes? A card file that the building rep keeps?

CONTACTING PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS

Obviously, this is the most important phase of membership recruitment. Interaction with
the new member can be accomplished in several ways: through personal contact, through
union literature, through in-school meetings, home visits, etc. But the most effective of
these is personal contact—the one-on-one organizing conversation. Nothing builds
union membership more effectively than direct person-to-person communication.
There are several strategies for a team to make personal contacts. They may include:

1. The Case Load Approach

2. First Friend, Best Friend
3. The Band Wagon

1. THE CASELOAD
In the “Case Load” approach, a team member would be assigned a certain number of
prospective members to contact (a case load). The team member would be given a
contact card for each person to contact. Record the results and recommend further action.
He or she may feel that another colleague has a better chance of signing up the non-
member and may request this aid, but the team member retains responsibility for the
contact and the follow-up.

2. FIRST FRIEND, BEST FRIEND

This approach is designed to invite the new staff member to become part of our union. It
depends upon the widespread activism of members within the school or worksite and
membership representation within each of the curriculum areas or job classifications to
which a new teacher or staff member is assigned. The Leadership Team should assign a
member to function as a “first friend” to the new person. This friend does more than talk
about the AFT; he or she attempts to ease the adjustment period of the new person by
offering advice, assistance, etc. Unlike the “case load” approach, the “first friend, best
friend” is a one-on-one long-term relationship. The most critical item in utilizing this
approach is the continued building of the new relationship. It should continue after the
new person signs a membership application.

3. THE BAND WAGON

“Band Wagon” contacting requires a large and active union membership on the campus
or worksite. Instead of assigning a single contact person, two or three members are
assigned to actively reach out to the prospective member—because the first contact
person has done a great job of completing the contact card with helpful notes, assessing
their interest in the union and noting their issues!

THE PERSONAL CONTACT ITSELF

1. No one expects you to know everything about HFT. You should try to make yourself
as informed as possible. The more familiar you are with the following points, the more
confidently and honestly you can talk with the prospective members:
 • Be aware of the AFT policies and positions and the critical points that support
them.

• Familiarize yourself with the benefits of membership. Have brochures or a

handout explaining them available for the prospective member.

2. If you don’t know the answer to a prospective member’s question, don’t hedge or bluff.
Tell them you don’t know, but you’ll find out. Then do it. Most importantly, get back to
the person as soon as possible with the right information. The accuracy and promptness
of your response greatly enhances the confidence the prospective member has in your and
in the union’s competence.

3. If available, have AFT literature (local, state, national) with you to distribute. Always
have membership applications and always know what the dues are and how a member
can pay.

4. Never force the conversation; let the prospective member tell you his or her feelings.

5. Don’t pre-judge a prospective member. He or she may surprise you and join.

6. Listen! Tie in the concerns of your co-worker with the union’s effort in that area.

FOLLOW-UP
Follow-up is a critical phase of membership because if at first you don’t succeed, you
must try, try again. The time will come when another effort should be made to invite the
prospective member to join . . . next week, next month, maybe next semester. Keep trying!

PROCEDURES FOR FOLLOW-UP

1. After the initial contact is made and recorded on a prospect card, the leadership team
member or “band wagon” team will decide when further contacts should be made.

2. When the team member feels that further contact would not produce results, he or she
should turn it over to the building representative.

3. The building representative should then discuss each card with the whole team to see if
other team members could offer some help in getting the person to join.