Recognizing Union Trustees: The Heart of Our Movement
By Neal Tepel, Publisher & Founder, LaborPress
February is Heart Health Awareness Month, and it’s the perfect time to talk about what keeps our union movement strong—the people and systems that keep workers protected, families secure, and futures funded.
This month at LaborPress, we’re highlighting and recognizing a group that rarely seeks the spotlight, yet carries an enormous responsibility on behalf of members: union trustees.
Trustees are not just “board members.” They are stewards. They safeguard benefit funds, protect plan integrity, ask hard questions, and make decisions that ripple across thousands of lives. They sit at the intersection of responsibility and trust—ensuring union members can count on the benefits they’ve earned, today and decades from now.
If you’ve ever used your health plan, relied on prescription coverage, scheduled a preventive exam, attended a union-sponsored wellness program, or counted on retirement security—there’s a good chance a trustee helped shape and protect the infrastructure behind it.
What trustees do—and why it matters
A strong union is built on solidarity, organizing, and collective action. But it is sustained through governance, stewardship, and accountability. That’s where trustees come in.
Union trustees typically oversee benefit funds and plan operations with a mandate that is both practical and principled. They help ensure that:
- Member contributions are managed responsibly
- Benefit plans remain strong, stable, and compliant
- Vendors are evaluated carefully and held to performance standards
- Costs are managed without losing sight of member access and quality
- Decisions are made with transparency, integrity, and long-term sustainability
In other words, trustees help make sure the promise of union membership isn’t just a message—it’s a reality.
And let’s be honest: the decisions trustees face today aren’t easy.
Healthcare costs continue to rise. The vendor marketplace is noisy. New models—virtual care, specialty programs, preventive health platforms—come with big promises and complex fine print. Trustees must weigh innovation against risk, immediate needs against long-term sustainability, and they must do it in a way that honors members’ real lives: their families, their schedules, their financial realities, their health.
That’s serious leadership.
Trustees are the “heart” of benefits—literally
Which brings us back to Heart Health Awareness Month.
Heart health is a perfect reminder of how benefits should work: prevention, early action, and readiness when life hits hard. The best heart outcomes come from doing the basics consistently—annual checkups, managing blood pressure, knowing your numbers, and responding quickly to emergencies.
Trustees play a similar role in the health of our union community. They help ensure the benefit plan is proactive, not just reactive. They support the systems that make it easier for members to:
- Get preventive care and annual exams
- Access specialists like cardiologists when needed
- Afford medications and follow-up care
- Receive education that reduces avoidable emergencies
- Build a culture of wellness where members feel supported using their benefits
Because we all know the truth: benefits don’t protect people if people can’t access them, don’t understand them, or don’t feel empowered to use them.
So this month, while we encourage members to protect their hearts, we also want to acknowledge the people who protect the “heart” of the benefit structure itself.
Join us in Hollywood, Florida – February 16
I’m also proud to share that Kerri O’Brien and I will be speaking at the NLMC event in Hollywood, Florida, where we’ll be bringing this message directly to union leadership.
And during the NLMC event, we’re hosting a Union Leaders Recognition Luncheon on February 16th—an opportunity to come together, celebrate leadership, and shine a light on the trustees and union leaders who keep the movement strong.
These moments matter. Recognition isn’t just ceremonial. It’s strategic. When we name the people doing the hard work—and we mean it—we strengthen the culture of service that unions are built on.
A message to trustees: we see you
To every trustee reading this: thank you.
Thank you for the meetings no one sees.
For the contracts you’ve read line by line.
For the uncomfortable questions you asked when something didn’t add up.
For the nights you spent thinking about long-term stability.
For the decisions you’ve made that protect members you may never meet.
You are carrying responsibility that directly impacts families—whether they realize it or not. That kind of leadership deserves respect.
A message to members: learn who represents you
And to our union members and families: I want to encourage you to take one step this month—learn who your trustees are.
If you see them at an event or meeting, thank them. Ask what the fund’s priorities are. Ask how your benefits are changing. Ask what programs exist that you may not be using. A benefit plan is strongest when members are engaged and informed—not just enrolled.
Heart health is union strength
Here’s my challenge to everyone this February:
Protect your heart—and protect the movement.
Schedule that annual exam. Learn the signs of heart attack and stroke. Consider CPR training for your household. Use your benefits early, not late.
And take a moment to recognize the trustees and leaders who keep those benefits strong.
Because when we care for our health, we protect our families.
When we protect our benefits, we protect our future.
And when we honor the leaders who serve with integrity, we strengthen the foundation of solidarity itself.
See you at NLMC in Hollywood on February 16th.
In solidarity,
Neal Tepel
Publisher & Founder, LaborPress
