The term “Weingarten Rights” comes from a 1975 case of NLRB v. J. Weingarten. In that case the National Labor Relations Board argued that employees in unionized workplaces have the right to the presence of a union steward or representative during any management inquiry that the employee reasonably believes may result in discipline.
While public employees of the Oregon Legislature are not subject to the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act, we have something similar, the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act and Chapter 243 of the Oregon Revised Statutes provides many of the same rights to Oregon public employees, including the right to have a union steward or representative present during any meeting which you believe could lead to discipline, discharge or a change in working conditions.
You only have one thing you need to do to ensure you exercise this right, when asked to join a meeting inform your member or HR “if this meeting could in any way lead to a change in working conditions, discipline or discharge, I request a union representative be present.” At this point your member or HR is responsible for contacting the union and arranging to have a union representative present.
We encourage you to exercise your right! But why?
The presence of a union representative can help in many ways:
- A union representative can serve as a witness to prevent supervisors from giving a false
account of the conversation. - The union representative can object to intimidating tactics or confusing questions.
- The union representative can, when appropriate, advise an employee against blindly
denying everything, thereby giving the appearance of dishonesty and guilt. - The union representative can help an employee to avoid making fatal admissions.
- The union representative can warn an employee against losing his or her temper.
- The union representative can raise extenuating factors.