Points Of Interest For Union Members

This column is directed to all Union members. We always suppose that the steward can be the eyes and ears of each local. Often, that is not possible. Stewards need the help of every member to protect and police the agreement. Without that cooperation, the agreement and the union is weakened.

What can you do as a member to strengthen the union?

• Bring your workplace problem to the union steward first. Employers may tell you they have an open door. They don't tell you that there usually is a trap door on the floor. Many members have lost on issues when they go to the boss first. It's human nature to think you can work things out; maybe even get a deal. But members go into that room and don't know the contract or their rights. Then they go to the union steward after the damage is done.

• Write up a grievance with the steward. Many of our contracts say that the member must write the grievance. But you need the proper language to write it up. Go to your union steward immediately and ask for help. Don't wait until you have forgotten the details or the grievance is no longer timely. Make that grievance into a winner.

• Bring your steward in to any meeting with the boss. This practice is not necessarily a right of all Union members. Some private sector workers and many public employees have this right. Others may have it as well. You need to read your contract and check with your local union. The right to representation comes from a Supreme Court case called the Weingarten case. Simply put, if you are called into a meeting with management and you feel that discipline may be issued as a result of that meeting, ask for your union steward to be there.

• Keep tabs on your personnel file. Remember that commendation you received from the company? Or that good driving award? Is it in your file? Are there notations on your record that don't belong there? You have a right to look at your file and correct errors. If there is information that is incorrect, ask to have it changed and follow up. If the contract says disciplinary entries must be pulled after two years, check to see that the out-of-date record is removed. If you have any trouble viewing your record or cleaning it up, talk to your shop steward.

• Being picked on at work? Are you getting the poor work assignments? Is your boss on your case all the time? This could be grounds for a harassment grievance. But you need to document every time this happens. Get yourself a small spiral notepad and start keeping a record each time your boss gives you grief. Once you have created a record of incidents, your shop steward can handle the problem.

• Curb your tongue. On meetings with management, particularly investigations and grievance meetings, tell the truth but answer all questions carefully. If you don' t know, say it. "Yes" and "no" are perfectly acceptable answers. If there is quiet in the room, don't feel that you have to fill it with sound.

• Don't spread rumors. Nothing spreads faster than rumors and many of them are not started by our members. If you have questions about the contract, negotiations, an arbitration, a work rule change, or something else you heard through the grapevine, ask your union steward or officer. But don't repeat what you aren't sure of. Rumors can be the most destructive force in the workplace because they tend to divide us. And that works toward the employer's advantage.

• Don't badmouth the union. Every time the Union holds a training session, new officers come out of the seminars with almost identical responses. They tell us that they had no idea how hard the officer they defeated had worked during his/her term in office. The best advice that can be offered is work with others in your union, not against them.. That does not mean there is no room for discussion or disagreement. But simple negativism about your union will eventually destroy its effectiveness. Employers will see divisiveness as a weakness and will act accordingly.

• Get involved. The union is you. This month, decide to do something to strengthen the union. Go to a meeting. Welcome a new hire. Volunteer to get a mailing out. Register to vote and then register your family, friends, and other members. Come down to the union hall after work and just ask if there is anything you can do.

• Wear your union button. Advertise that you are a union member and proud of it. Let your family, friends and neighbors know. And let the boss know it too.
  

  Send mail to TEA_TX@webtv.net with questions or comments about this website or to report any bad links.
  Copyright © 1999 Transit Employees Association of Texas.