By pooling resources, locals that could not otherwise afford staff can share resources. These bodies have their own structure of paid officers elected by the members. The individual locals within them also have officers who are usually unpaid. The members of union locals are all usually in the same industry if not the same company. Joint board or district council members, on the other hand, can come from different companies and different industries.
Union locals elect their own officers.
They have an executive board, committees, and a steward system at the work site. A steward is an appointed or elected union representative at the workplace, sometimes called a delegate. A union local officer has a huge number of tasks to work on, from handling hundreds of workplace grievances, bargaining contracts, organizing to bring in more members, and paying bills, to implementing the international union's agenda. If that isn't done, the local will decline and the officer will be voted out. Central Labor Councils Local unions in cities and counties affiliate with an AFL-CIO central labor council in order to work together on political, legislative, and social issues.