shop steward

American

noun

a unionized employee elected to represent a shop, department, or the like, in dealings with an employer.

shop steward British

noun

a coworker elected by trade union members to represent them in discussions and negotiations with the management

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of shop steward

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

shop steward

The stock controller, who is also Unite shop steward, said Leadec had set up a foodbank to support its workers facing extreme hardship.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2025

The reader should know that my grandfather was a shop steward on the heavily unionized railroads of the early 20th century.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 30, 2023

“I think it was some staffer that was sympathetic to DSA and just pretty much grossed out by how these people were behaving,” said Frank Halstead, a shop steward of Teamsters Local 572 in Compton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2022

“You can drink gallons of water, but it still gets to you,” Matt Leichenger, 26, a Brooklyn U.P.S. driver and shop steward, said of the heat.

From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2022

Of course Bailey, the shop steward, would take his usual delight in bringing that up.

From Meeting of the Board by Alan Edward Nourse

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023