 |
 |
Union Representation FAQs
...Why Does APC Represent All Unit 4 Employees?
...Do I Have a Right to Representation During Meetings With My Supervisor?
...If I Need Advice or Representation, Who Do I Call?
Does
APC Represent Me If I'm Not a Union Member?
Yes. If you're an employee in Unit 4, APC
represents you in all contract matters. You don't need to join APC
to call on your Union in times of need, or to benefit from its many
activities.
Why Does
APC Represent All Unit 4 Employees?
In the early 1980s, employees in Unit 4 elected
APC as their Union. California State Law requires that all CSU unions
represent each and every employee in their respective bargaining
units in all contract matters, whether or not an employee joins
the union.
Do I Have a Right
to Representation During Meetings With My Supervisor?
During certain types of meetings, yes.
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!
If I Need Advice or
Representation, Who Do I Call?
See Contacting
APC.