MSEA-SEIU Chief Steward Jason Alley named recipient of our 2025 MSEA-SEIU Steward of the Year

Jason Alley, president of our Maine Maritime Academy Chapter, thanks MSEA-SEIU delegates at our 2025 Annual Meeting Banquet after receiving our 2025 MSEA-SEIU Steward of the Year Award.

In presenting our 2025 MSEA-SEIU Steward of the year to Jason Alley  on Nov. 7, 2025, MSEA-SEIU Annual Meeting Banquet, MSEA-SEIU Vice President Kevin Russell made the following remarks.

By Kevin Russell
Vice President, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989

Tonight, we reintroducing our Steward of the Year Award as a way to spotlight the crucial role that union stewards play in advocating for the workers we represent. Union stewards are the backbone of our union. Every day, they listen to their coworkers and take action as needed to enforce and protect our contractual rights.

This fall, we received 20 nominations for Steward of the Year. We used the following criteria in selecting the recipient:

• Defends and enforces union contracts
• Educates and orients new members by greeting them, signing them up and teaching them about our union
• Helps members with workplace issues
• Engages members in collective action
• Listens well and follows through with coworkers and the management
• Earns the trust and respect of the members they lead
• Serves as the eyes and ears of the union
• Carries out worksite communications
• Has one-on one-conversations with members at work, one of the most important strategic resources and advantages unions have
• Leads by example

President Brunton, Terry Baillargeon from the MSEA staff and I served as the committee tasked with picking a winner. All of the nominees  are rock stars in their own right, advocating effectively for their coworkers. It turned out to be a really difficult decision. We got feedback from fellow members and MSEA staff in vetting the nominations.

The 2025 Steward of the Year serves on every bargaining team. A chief steward at our union, he educates his coworkers about their rights and organizes surveys and collective actions. He goes above and beyond at every turn. He knows every worker in his unit by name. He knows whether they pay dues. He identifies fellow leaders and serves as a mentor to newer stewards. We could all learn about union leadership from this steward, who also serves as his chapter’s president for the past three years, all while serving as the building and grounds manager for his employer.

Will our 2025 MSEA-SEIU Steward of the year please join me at the podium? Congratulations to Jason Alley of Maine Maritime Academy, our 2025 Steward of the Year!