All this is designed to let workers blow off steam and relieve their personal stress without tackling the root causes. The union approach is based on a broader picture, starting from the premise that work is one of the most important aspects of a worker s life. It s not just 8 or 10 hours a day. Work is food and shelter for the family, it can mean the ability to take a vacation or not. A change in work hours means scrambling to find baby sitting, getting someone to pick up kids from school, etc.
Work affects everything, and thus stress at work affects a worker s health and family.
As might be expected, most studies show that having a well- functioning union is one of the best ways to fight stress in the workplace. A union gives workers a vehicle to deal with most of the examples listed above and to tackle the real causes of stress . Stressful conditions can be fought using the health and safety, or the recognition clauses of the contract. Thus the union steward can grieve situations that can cause harm to workers. OSHA, or the threat of going to OSHA, can be used to tackle specific workplace health and safety problems.