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Your Right to Representation

Know Your "Weingarten Rights" (The APC Advocate, Winter 2002)

In recent months, there have been several incidents of Unit 4 employees—unaware of their right to representation—being pulled by their managers into meetings concerning, or resulting in, disciplinary action.

When there is “reasonable belief” that the discussion or investigation could lead to disciplinary action, you have the right to request representation (based on the “Weingarten Rule” issued by the United States Supreme Court in 1975). But the CSU is not legally obligated to inform you of this right, or to offer you the option of requesting that a union representative be present.

Your right to union representation arises only when you request representation. In other words, the responsibility for exercising the right to union representation falls squarely on the shoulders of the employee, and failing to exercise that right is tantamount to waiving it. Once an employee has willingly participated in a meeting or interview unaccompanied by a union representative, the right can no longer be asserted—and neither the CSU nor its managers can be held responsible for denying the employee the right to representation.

Don’t wait for an “invitation” from management before deciding to learn how to protect yourself! You need to understand your rights before you can know when and how to exercise them; waiting to do the research until you need to know is usually too late!

Learn to protect your rights and to increase the likelihood of success in a disciplinary proceeding—whether planned or impromptu. Learn what you need to know about your right to representation. How? By reading the final section of APC's hard-copy publication of the 2000-2003 Collective Bargaining Agreement (with related materials): “The Right to Representation During Disciplinary Proceedings.”

Never received a copy of the contract? Contact your steward now!

Questions? Concerns?

If you have any questions or concerns about this Alert!, please contact your campus steward (for information on how to contact APC, click here).

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8/8/03

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