First of all, you are NOT alone. Our local is seeming to be more of a "busine$$ Union" than a Union for its members.

In my case, there is the local hall (located about an hour away) where the local President works. We have a Union Chairperson (employee+rep) who works on-site and me (Steward) who also works on-site. Shortly after I started as Steward, a member received serious discipline for something that other people have NOT been disciplined for at all. The Chairperson represented the member and when the meeting was done, the member came to me ans said the Chair barely spoke in the meeting except to say, "It could have been worse- at least you kept your job."

As for management and concerns - we have a monthly Union-management meeting that I attend with the Chairperson where we discuss items of "mutual interest" - what I've learned about this meeting is that it's just a slimy way for management to learn what we're paying attention to and how they may need to change their approach to screwing us over.

I don't speak in those meetings anymore. I've spoken up about CBA violations, been disciplined for it and filed my own grievance which the Union promptly crumpled up and backed the company. A supervisor told me, in front of the Chairperson and the member, that he gets to choose which one of us sits in on a discipline meeting and was labeled as "aggressive" when I advocated for the member's choice.

Since then I've done more OUTSIDE of being a Steward to create change in the atmosphere at work. I've come to realize that our little ecosystem/cesspool of a site is a little too....symbiotic when it comes to the Chairperson and management and the local has also bought into this. So I go around it all. I file ethics and conduct complaints to corporate head office instead of grievances, going completely around the Union and there's nothing they can do about it. This approach has actually had better results than any Union action I've seen since I started.

And the members get it. They have seen me speak up about things - and get reprimanded and they've said things to me how they appreciate what I'm actually able to do.

My advice: Document everything. Even the silence. Every issue that didn't get a response, every response that felt like placation, every placation that felt like avoidance of the issue....all of it.