Case History of the FTQ's Social Stewards Network: A Unique Experiment in Union Peer Support for Mental Health in Workplaces in Quebec, Canada

Abstract

This article summarizes 10 years of research on an alternative actor providing peer support in Quebec workplaces since 1983: the Quebec Federation of Labor's Union Social Stewards Peer Support Network. Such work fills the gap in research on unions’ capacity to act with respect to workplace mental health and take collective control of preventing its injuries. Data were collated through 12 discussions (120-min) groups and some 60 semi-structured individual (90-min) interviews. Our findings highlight the importance of local unionism in maintaining workplace mental health. They also reiterate unions’ need to consider mental health injuries in the workplace as opportunities for reconstructing their strategies so as to rethink work and help institute a truly preventive strategy involving all stakeholders.