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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: 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. ©1997-2005 Teamsters Local 77 All Rights Reserved Your Webmaster: Paul Morrison |
