Understanding Your Weingarten Rights
Assert Your Rights
When management says, “We need to talk,” you have more power than you may realize. Weingarten Rights ensures workers have the right to have a union representative present during any meeting that could reasonably lead to discipline. This is a critical right we have as workers to ensure management is following our contract.
But have you heard of "Weingarten Rights" before? As part of our union's new Know Your Rights series, we will talk about this critical right we have as workers in a union-represented workplace, and going forward we will share other rights and benefits that you have as a union member so you can fully utilize your union membership.
History and Background
In 1975, the United States Supreme Court in National Labor Relations Board v. Weingarten issued a crucial decision that workers have a right to union representation during investigatory meetings with management. This established what we call "Weingarten Rights".In plain terms, it gives you the right to have a union representative present during any meeting with management that could lead to discipline. That union representative isn’t just a quiet observer during your meeting with your supervisor, they are there to protect and defend your rights, ask clarifying questions, make sure the process is fair, and ensure adherence to your collective bargaining agreement. These union representatives are often elected or appointed local union members who are workers just like you in your own workplace, and are often called "Stewards".
Weingarten Rights. Click here to print
Weingarten Rights are part of the bedrock of workers’ rights... ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability on the job and they help level the playing field between workers and management. It is a myth that this is about "protecting bad workers". Rather, it is about holding management accountable to the terms and conditions set forth in our contract and upholding workers' rights. Because with a union at work, you cannot be fired or disciplined without "just cause" and your union representatives ensure you are treated fairly and without discrimination.
Our union fights every day to defend these (and many other) core protections because due process at work isn’t optional... it’s essential. When one member’s rights are respected, it strengthens all of us. And an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. That is what solidarity is all about!