Posted on the CAPT website
www.psychtechs.net
December 26, 2007

Rights highlight: Weingarten rights

Coalinga Chapter President Juan Nolasco recently had an interesting conversation with a special investigator at his facility.

Walking to his car, Nolasco was approached by member of the special investigation team who started a conversation about worker rights during investigatory interviews.

"The investigator said that managers ‘could deny you guys representation,'" reported Nolasco.

When the chapter president asked why the investigator thought they had this right, the investigator maintained, "It's a law."

Curiously, the investigator could not recall what law it was, only that it was a "part of penal code" -- although no such penal code exists.

Nolasco immediately wrote a memo to CSH's labor relations officer setting the record straight: Our members have guaranteed union representation according to federal Weingarten rights and other related laws.

Thanks to Nolasco's memo about the investigator's ignorance of law, the labor relations officer immediately issued a reminder to Coalinga staff noting that workers had protected rights to union representation.

"We got that corrected quickly," said Nolasco.

WEINGARTEN RIGHTS

A 1975 U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave workers the right to have union representatives present during investigatory or disciplinary interviews. These rights were further strengthened for California state workers by a landmark lawsuit -- Robinson v. State Personnel Board -- as well as the Dills Act, which gave state employees the right to union representation.

Named after a clerk being investigated by the Weingarten Company, these rights are commonly referred to as "Weingarten rights."

These rights include:

Requesting the presence of a union representative. Delaying an interview until a union representative is available. Asking if you are a suspect in a criminal matter. Denying consent to a search of your person or property (ask to see a search warrant). Denying the waiver of any rights, including the right to remain silent. Denying signing a waiver-of-rights form.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Management is not required to inform you of your Weingarten rights. It is up to you to know and request these rights.

If you are faced with what appears to be a disciplinary or investigatory interview, you may request your Weingarten rights by saying:

"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I request that a union representative be present at this meeting. Without representation, I choose not to answer any questions."

There also are a couple of limits to these rights:

You are not entitled to have a union rep present every time a supervisor wants to talk to you. However, if the discussion starts to change into questioning that could lead to discipline, request a steward before the conversation goes further.

If you're called in to a manager's office for an investigation, you can't refuse to go without your steward. But you can refuse to answer questions until a steward arrives and you've had a chance to talk things over. If you're called on the phone and get the same kind of questions, insist on waiting to answer them in the presence of a union rep.

For more information on these and other union rights, contact your chapter office.