Project Steward - Empowering Workers Through Networks and Visualization

Introduction

Project Steward is a platform designed to enhance worker empowerment by providing tools that facilitate grievance handling, collective action, and self-organization. At its core, Steward leverages network structures and visualizations to help workers understand their power, navigate workplace challenges, and engage in collective bargaining effectively.

Corporations were once institutions that served a multitude of stakeholders—workers, communities, and the public good. Over the past 40 years, they have shifted towards a shareholder-driven economy, prioritizing short-term profits over long-term investment in workers and society. Steward aims to remind corporate institutions of their broader responsibility by giving workers a voice and a platform to push back against extractive corporate practices.

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Core Concepts

1. The Role of the Shop Steward

A shop steward is a worker elected or recognized by their peers to represent them in workplace issues, advocate for fair treatment, and mediate between employees and management. While they may not hold formal authority, they wield unofficial power—a strength that arises from their backing by the collective workforce.
When unofficial authority is backed by real power, it must be respected.

2. Workers Have More Power Than They Realize

One of the greatest challenges in labor movements is that workers often don’t recognize the power they already have. Steward seeks to make that power visible by structuring and mapping workplace networks, helping workers see their connections, shared interests, and collective leverage.

3. Networks as a Tool for Power

In any workplace, formal hierarchies dictate the chain of command, but informal networks define real influence. By mapping these networks, Steward helps workers understand how influence flows and how collective action can be strategically applied to achieve change.

4. Visualization Enhances Understanding

People grasp ideas more effectively when they can see them. Steward utilizes visual tools to help workers understand their workplace dynamics, track grievances, and strategize for collective bargaining.
Seeing the end result makes it real.

5. Grievance Handling and Collective Bargaining

Handling grievances effectively is crucial to worker empowerment. Steward provides a structured approach where workers can document issues, escalate concerns through their network, and present a unified front when negotiating with management.
Collective bargaining becomes stronger when grievances are well-documented, shared strategically, and backed by an organized workforce.

6. Self-Organization is the Key to Strength

True worker empowerment comes not just from leadership, but from self-organization—the ability of workers to communicate, collaborate, and act collectively without needing permission from external forces.
Steward provides tools that encourage bottom-up organization, ensuring workers own the process of advocating for themselves.

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The Vision of Steward

Project Steward is built on the idea that knowledge, organization, and visualization create power. By helping workers see their networks, document their struggles, and organize their actions, Steward transforms abstract worker empowerment into a tangible, structured, and powerful force.