Right to Union Representation: It’s More than Weingarten Rights

April 2, 2014: If you’re being questioned by UPS management, you have the right to union representation—even if those questions are not part of a disciplinary interview.

UPS Teamsters have rights that go beyond Weingarten thanks to our Teamster contract—and an important arbitration victory by Teamsters Local 804.

UPS Teamsters have the right to union representation whenever management is conducting a investigation of any kind.

This includes investigations into accidents or questions in the office about production numbers of what happened on the route that day—even if there’s no disciplinary action on the table.

If management is asking questions as part of an investigation, you have the right to a shop steward. Period. Until a shop steward is present, management cannot start the meeting or ask questions.

These rights are all spelled out in Article 4 of the contract. But UPS management, including Loss Prevention, frequently violates the contract by questioning members on the side and coercing members to waive their rights to union representation without any shop steward present.

Local 804 took this issue to the national grievance panel. When it deadlocked there, the local took it to arbitration—and won. The arbitrator ruled that a member cannot waive their right to union representation until a shop steward is present. And no member should ever waive their right to union representation!

For a copy of this arbitration decision, contact TDU.

Get Advice Join TDU Donate

Recent News

Online Workshop: From Contract Campaign to Contract Enforcement

We spent the last year uniting to win a strong contract. UPS will spend the next five years trying to violate it. We won’t let that happen! Register now for our online workshop on moving "From Contract Campaign to Contract Enforcement" on Sunday, December 10 at 12 PM EST/11 AM CT/10 AM MT/9AM PT. 

WATCH: Building Rank-and-File Power at UPS

In 2023, Teamsters across America fought for a fair contract at UPS and won. How did we do it? 

View More News Posts