|
|
The court in the Weingarten case determined that this right arises only in situations where the employee requests representation and this right does not apply to such conversations as when the manager give instructions or needed corrections of work performance.
The "Weingarten Rights" law is Union representation during company interrogations.
As an employee of AT&T Advertising Solutions, whether a member or a non-member, you have a right to have a Steward present at a meeting with management on any level. If your Manager asks you to come in to his/her office for a talk, in a very nice way, say, "that's fine, but I need just a minute, I would like to have a Steward present at the meeting".
A Steward can help in the following ways;
(a) Help a fearful or inarticulate employee explain what happened.
(b) The Steward can raise extenuating factors
(c) Advise an employee against blindly denying everything, thereby giving the appearance of dishonesty or guilt.
(d) Help prevent an employee from making fatal admissions.
(e) Keep employee from losing temper, and perhaps get fired for insubordination.
(f) Serve as a witness to prevent manager for giving false account of the conversation.
WEINGARTEN RULES
1.) The employee must make a clear request for Union representation before the interview.
2.) After the employee request the employer has three options;
(a) Grant the request and delay questioning until the Union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee; or
(b) Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
(c) Give the employee a choice of (1) having the interview without representation or (2) ending the interview.
3.) If the employer denies the request for Union representation, and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a "right to refuse to answer".
Your Union Steward has many responsibilities in the workplace, among them is to listen to the employee's issues and complaints, and represent you through the grievance procedure.
The Steward must be balanced and see the manager's point of view as well as the employees.