On the Job
One of the most important responsibilities of a union is to
help educate its members about their rights on the job.
Please read the following topics to learn more about your
rights in the workplace and how to enforce those rights:
Right to union representation:
An employee may be represented by the union at an
investigatory interview with his or her supervisor when the
employee reasonably believes that the interview may lead to
a disciplinary action. The rights of employees
to the presence of union representatives during
investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1975 in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc.
Since that case involved a clerk being investigated by the
Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as
Weingarten Rights.
 Your Contract:
A union contract is the legal document that defines your
wages, hours, benefits and terms of employment. The
contract is officially referred to as a 'Memorandum of
Understanding' or 'MOU'. The contract affords you many
rights and protections. However, as with any contract,
the other party may sometimes violate the provisions of the
contract. When this occurs, the following options are
available:
Resolve your issue informally:
Many grievances are the result of simple misunderstandings.
Sometimes, a meeting with a supervisor can resolve issues.
In some cases, a meeting with upper management brings about
the desired results. If this approach does not
work, you may file a formal grievance.
File a grievance:
Our contract defines a grievance as a dispute involving the
interpretation, application or enforcement of the express
terms of the contract. 'Express terms' means items that are
specifically spelled out in the contract.
Learn more about the
grievance process.
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