|  EMPLOYEE'S
RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION
The rights of unionized employees to have present a union representative
during investigatory interviews were announced by the U.S. Supreme
Court in a 1975 case (NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88
LRRM 2689). These rights have become known as the Weingarten rights.
Employees have Weingarten rights only during investigatory
interviews:
An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an
employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for
discipline or asks an employee to defend his or her conduct.
If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or other
adverse consequences may result from what he or she says, the employee
has the right to request union representation.
Management is not required to inform the employee of his/her Weingarten
rights; it is the employees responsibility to know and request.
When the employee makes the request for a union representative
to be present management has three options:
(1) it can stop questioning until the representative arrives.
(2) it can call off the interview or,
(3) it can tell the employee that it will call off the interview
unless the employee voluntarily gives up his/her rights to a union
representative (an option the employee should always refuse.)
Once you’ve asked for union representation, any attempt by
management to continue asking questions before a union representative
gets there is ILLEGAL. If supervisors pressure you by telling you
that "you’re only making things worse for yourself"
by asking for union representation, that’s against the law
too.
Employers will often assert that the only role of a union representative
in an investigatory interview is to observe the discussion. The
Supreme Court, however, clearly acknowledges a representative's
right to assist and counsel workers during the interview.
The Supreme Court has also ruled that during an investigatory interview
management must inform the union representative of the subject of
the interrogation. The representative must also be allowed to speak
privately with the employee before the interview. During the questioning,
the representative can interrupt to clarify a question or to object
to confusing or intimidating tactics.
While the interview is in progress the representative can not tell
the employee what to say but he may advise them on how to answer
a question. At the end of the interview the union representative
can add information to support the employee's case.
What to Say if Management Asks Questions That Could
Lead to Discipline:
"If this discussion could in anyway lead to my being disciplined
or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I request
that my union representative, officer, or steward by present at
the meeting. Without representation, I choose not to answer any
questions."
Know the limits:
Just as it’s important to know what your Weingarten rights
are, it is also important to know the limits.
You are not entitled to have a steward present every time a supervisor
wants to talk to you. Remember, if the discussion begins to change
into questioning that could lead to discipline, you have the right
to ask for representation before the conversation goes any further.
If you are called into the supervisor’s office for an investigation,
you can’t refuse to go without your steward. All you can do
is refuse to answer questions until your union representative (or
steward) gets there and you’ve had a chance to talk things
over.
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