WORKERS'
RIGHTS

With a union, you have legal rights to protect you and your co-workers. Know them. Us them.

Weingarten Rights

Your Weingarten Rights mean that you have the right to be informed, in advance, of the subject matter of disciplinary interviews and you have the right to union representation at such an interview. If you are called into the office by a supervisor and you believe that you may be disciplined in that meeting, you should always ask for a union representative to be present with you. If you one is not available you have a right to request that the meeting be postponed until a representative is available. 

The role of the union representative in a Weingarten meeting: 

  • Ask for time to talk in private before the meeting; 
  • Take notes & record the names, dates, questions; 
  • Secure “due process” and fair treatment; 
  • Be sure that the grievant is not railroaded; 
  • Object to any attempts to anger or frighten the grievant
  • Call a timeout to caucus or recess as needed; 
  • Ask for questions to be rephrased or explained as necessary; 
  • Make no permanent or undoable decisions at the interview

Policy on Fee Objections

The Rochester Regional Joint Board, in conformance with the requirements of the law, has adopted a policy and procedure with respect to dues and fees paid by non-members covered by collective bargaining agreements containing a union security clause. Under this policy, an employee who is subject to union security clause and who, therefore, as a condition of employment, must pay regular and periodic dues or fees to our Union may perfect an obejction with regard to the amount of dues or fees which he or she is being required to pay. An exisiting Rochester Regional Joint Board member who chooses to object oto the payment of full periodic dues uniformly required as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership in our Union must resign from membership. A newly-represented employee who chooses to object to the full payment of dues may refuse to join the Union and will be treated as a free payer. To the extent permitted by law, non-members cannot participate in Union elections as a voter or a candidate, attend Union meetings, serve as delegates to the Joint Board or as a delegate to an affiliated international union convention, or participate in the process by which collective bargaining agreements are reached and ratified.

A non-member may file an objection with regard to the amount of dues of fees they are required to pay in writing during the first thirty (30) days following the employee becoming subject to the union security clause and/or during the month of July of any year with the Secretary-Treasurer of the Rochester Regional Joint Board, 750 East Ave., Rochester, N.Y., 14607. If you filed a timely notice, your Joint Board dues will be reduced by a percentage equal to the percentage of Join Board expenditures for political activities and other expenses not related to the Joint Board carrying out its collective bargaining duties. For purposes of this calculation, the Joint Board assumes that its percentage of non-collective bargaining expenses is the same as the percentage of non-collective bargaining expenses of the Service Employees International Association.

The Rochester Regional Joint Board expects very few employees it represents will avail themselves of this option since it firmly believes that those it represents recognize the importance of all expenditures which the Union incurs and the many ways in which these expenditures benefit our members.