Know Your Rights

As a steward, you make collective bargaining agreements meaningful by helping your co-workers implement their contract and defend their rights on a day-to-day basis. You are in the best position to understand your co-workers’ concerns and priorities, organize with them to take action, and communicate their priorities to other union leaders. You are also the best person to educate co-workers about our union’s goals.

As a steward you have the right to:

• Talk to co-workers about our union in the workplace;
• Sign up new members;
• Enforce the contract;
• Investigate grievances or potential grievances;
• Initiate and file grievances;
• Represent workers in the grievance process and during disciplinary meetings; and
• Conduct other union business (helping members with referrals to government agencies, community services, etc.).

If you would like to learn more about being a steward, and what it means to be part of a union, we encourage you to review the UFCW Stewards Manual.

In 1935, Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) which was signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The NLRA guarantees the basic rights of private sector employees to organize, engage in collective bargaining for better terms and conditions at work, and take collective action, including striking in some circumstances.

Section 7 of the NLRA provides as follows:
“Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in section 158 (a)(3) of this title.”

Under Section 7 of the NLRA, you have the right to do the following:

• Attend meetings to discuss forming a union with your co-workers;
• Read and distribute union literature and discuss union matters (as long as you do this in non-work areas during non-work times, such as during breaks or lunch hours);
• Wear union buttons, t-shirts, stickers, hats on the job;
• Sign a card asking your employer to recognize and bargain with your union;
• Sign petitions or file grievances related to wages, hours, working conditions, and other job issues; and
• Ask other employees to support the union, to sign union cards or petitions, or to file grievance.

If you would like to know more about your Section 7 Rights, visit: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/interfering-with-employee-rights-section-7-8a1

Weingarten Rights originate from the 1975 case called NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. in which the Supreme Court ruled that employees in unionized workplaces have the right to the presence of a union steward during any management inquiry that the employee reasonably believes may result in discipline.

Facts of the Case
A reported theft had been brought to the attention of the manager at a local Weingarten supermarket that an employee was taking money from the cash register. Upon review of surveillance cameras by an internal store investigator, it was determined that the employee in question was not taking money from the cash register. However, the store manager informed the investigator that the same employee had previously failed to pay for the full price of a box of chicken she had purchased. Both the store manager and investigator questioned the employee with regards to the new accusation. The employee repeatedly asked that her local union representative be present, but was denied by her manager each time. The employee later reported the incident to her shop steward and union, who filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). They argued that under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, employees have a right to have their union representative present during any inquiry where the employee’s job might be in jeopardy. The employer’s refusal to allow a union representative to be present during the questioning of the employee was an unfair labor practice.

The Supreme Court ruled that the following rules apply:

Rule 1: An employee must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. An employee cannot be punished for making this request.

Rule 2: Once an employee makes requests a union representative, an employer must choose from among three options:

• Grant the request and delay questioning until a union representative arrives and has an opportunity to consult privately with the employee;
• Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
• Give the employee a clear choice between having the interview without representation or ending the interview.

Rule 3: If an employer denies an employee’s request for union representation, and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employer may not discipline the employee for such a refusal.

We encourage you to learn more about and exercise your Weingarten Rights where appropriate. For more information, visit https://ufcw1262.org/resources-faqs/know-your-rights/

Less than two weeks after being inaugurated, President Bill Clinton signed The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law on February 5, 1993. The federal law was intended to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families. The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions.

Eligible employees are entitled to:

• Twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
  • the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
  • the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
  • to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
  • a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
  • any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
• Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

The FMLA gives unions a tool to defend employees who face discipline or discharge for health-related attendance problems. If you believe you were improperly denied FMLA leave or disciplined or discharged for requesting or taking FMLA leave, contact your steward. For more information, visit https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla.

Keeping members informed about their rights and the resources our union provides is essential to protecting them on the job. As part of this effort, you can learn more about the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which protects the rights of union members.

For more information, download our poster: Union Members: Know Your Rights