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"Weingarten Rights"
Any employee has the right to
Union representation when management questions an
employee to obtain information and the employee has
a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse
consequence may result from what he or she says.
Your Union strongly suggests that you exercise this
right.
Having a steward present can help
in many ways. The steward can:
Serve as a witness to prevent
supervisors from giving a false account of the
conversation
Object to intimidating
tactics or confusing questions
Advise (when appropriate) and
employee against blindly denying everything.
Thereby giving the appearance of dishonesty and
guilt.
Help an employee to avoid
making fatal admissions.
Warn an employee against
losing his or her temper.
Raise extenuating factors
The Employee Rights under
Weingarten rules are as follows:
The employee may request union
representation before or during the interview.
Remember the company does not have to offer union
representation.
After the request, the employer
must choose from amount three options.
Grant the request and delay
questioning until the union representative
arrives.
Deny the request and end the
interview immediately.
Give the employee a choice
of:
Having the interview
without representation (usually a
mistake or the wrong choice) or
Ending the interview
(best choice if no union steward is
coming)
Not every discussion with
management is an investigatory interview. For
example, a supervisor may speak to an employee about
the proper way to do a job. Even if the supervisor
asks the employee questions, this is not an
investigatory interview as the use or possibility of
discipline is remote.
However a routine conversation
changes character if a supervisor becomes
dissatisfied with an employee’s answers and takes a
hostile attitude. If this happens, the meeting
becomes an investigatory interview and Weingarten
rules apply.
If the employer denies the
request for union representation and questions the
employee, it commits an unfair labor practice
and THEN the employee may refuse to answer.
Although some supervisors
sometimes try to assert that the only function of a
steward at an investigatory interview is to observe
the discussion in other words be a SILENT witness
this is WRONG. The steward has the right to counsel
the employee during the interview and to assist the
employee to present the facts. Legal cases have
established the following rights and obligations of
the steward.
When the steward arrives, the
supervisor must inform the employee and the
steward of the subject matter of the interview:
for example, the type of misconduct, which is
being investigated. (The supervisor does not,
however, have to reveal management’s entire
case.)
The steward can take the
employee aside for a private pre-interview
conference before the questioning begins.
The steward can speak during
the interview. (But, the steward has no right to
bargain over the purpose of the interview or to
obstruct the interview.)
The steward can advise the
employee not to answer questions that are
abusive, misleading, badgering, confusing or
harassing.
When the questioning ends,
the steward can provide information to justify
the employee’s conduct.
Cut this bottom
section out and put it in your wallet !
If you are called to a meeting
with management and you suspect the meeting is for
disciplinary purposes, read the following statement
to management BEFORE the meeting
starts!!
"If this discussion could in any
way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or
affect my personal working conditions, I
respectfully request that my union representative,
officer, or steward be present at this meeting.
Without representation present, then...
I choose not to participate in
this discussion."
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