• Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights
LEOSU-VA LOCAL 104
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Union Bulletin Board
  • Your Health Benefits
  • Shop Steward Training Program
  • Online Grievance Form
  • Employees Rights to Join a Union
  • LEOSU-DC National Union Website
  • Join LEOSU-VA Local 104
  • Legal Counsel - Law Firm of Lally & Misir, LLP
  • Resource Page
  • Homeland Security News Wire
  • Law Enforcement News Wire
  • Beck Rights

​Information Requests

Picture
Picture
ISSUES
 
  • To defend the members and the union contract, the union has a legal right to seek information from an employer – and the employer has a legal obligation to provide it as long as the union’s request is relevant and not unreasonable
 
  • The employer is required to provide relevant information in a variety of circumstances – don’t assume that a grievance has to be filed before you can ask!
 
  • Put information requests in writing!

To properly police the Union Contract, the Union often needs information that only the employer can provide. Every steward should be aware that the employer must provide the Union with the information that it needs to properly represent the members. This includes information that will help the Union:


  • To decide whether to file a grievance;
  • To prove a point to win a grievance;
  • To make the employer prove something they have said;
  • To prepare and present an arbitration case; and
  • To prepare for negotiations.

You have the right to ask for information. Some employers try to deny giving the Union information until the Union files a grievance. This is wrong. The Union can ask for information before it files a grievance to decide if a grievance exists.

Example: An employee claims that there is an unfair distribution of overtime in her department. The union steward can request a departmental overtime log or payroll record to see if this is true.

Proving Claims: The Union can request information that makes the employer prove a claim they have made.

Example: The employer announces that welfare case workers now have quotas to meet on the number of clients they help each day. This change rests upon the claim that the welfare case workers in Iowa “see the fewest number of clients of any state in the country.” The union could request the information the employer has to back up this statement. Employers often back down from outrageous claims once the Union confronts them with a demand to prove what they say.

Requests must be relevant and not unreasonable: The obligation of the Union is to ask for information that is relevant to the case and not an unreasonable request aimed at harassing the employer. The NLRB (and state Labor Boards) will back up information requests if they meet these two criteria.


Example: Pete receives a warning for punching in late twice in one week. Pete said that Joe and Kate, friends of the boss, came in late but never got warned. It would be correct to ask for the time cards and warnings issued to Joe and Kate over the last several months. It might not be proper to ask for 300 employees’ time cards for the last six years.

Confidentiality. Occasionally the Union may have to pledge that it will keep the information confidential. This may occur if the information concerns health problems or information about a production process that is unique to the employer. Customer or client complaints may fall under this category. Confidential material can be presented to an arbitrator, who will also agree to keep the material secret.

How quick do the employers have to provide the information? Employers cannot unreasonably delay giving information to the Union. If the employer estimates that getting the information will take some time, they must show that they are working on it, not just stalling.

The employer sometimes can provide the Union access to information rather then providing a copy.

Example: In response to the employer’s plan to set up a new absentee point system, the Union requests the employer to provide the Union with absentee records of all employees for the last two years. Instead the employer provides the Union with all the records and a space to examine them at work. The employer must allow the Union to copy all relevant records. If the employer can claim that the cost of copying the records is extreme then they must bargain with the Union over how much the Union will pay. In all extreme cases the costs should be split. The Union should not pay the entire cost.

Put the request in writing. This way the employer knows exactly what the Union needs and the Union has proof of when and what was requested. Having this proof is necessary if the Union must go to the NLRB (or state Labor Board) to enforce its demand for information.

Refusal to Provide Information. If the employer refuses to provide relevant information, discuss the possibility of filing an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the LEOSU-DC Business Agent assigned to your local.


What Can You Request?

The following is a list of the various kinds of information that Unions have requested and employers have had to give them. Remember the Union must show this information is relevant.


  • Accident Records
  • Attendance Records
  • Bargaining notes
  • Client complaints
  • Contracts (from other bar gaining units)
  • Contracts with suppliers
  • Correspondence
  • Customer contracts
  • Customer complaints
  • Customer lists
  • Disciplinary records
  • Employer memos
  • Equipment specifications
  • Health & Safety studies
  • Inspection records
  • Insurance policies
  • Interview notes
  • Job assignment records
  • Job bids
  • Job evaluations
  • Job descriptions
  • Material Safety Data Sheets
  • Names of witnesses
  • OSHA logs
  • Payroll records
  • Pension contribution records
  • Performance reviews
  • Personnel files (with or without employee’s consent)
  • Piece rate records
  • Production records
  • Photographs
  • Salary records
  • Security Guard records
  • Seniority lists
  • Subcontracting contracts
  • Supervisor’s notes
  • Time cards
  • Time study records and raw data
  • Training manuals
  • Videotapes
  • Wage and Salary records
  • Work Rules
  • (Pick one of the following openings:)


  • To monitor and administer the collective bargaining agreement, the Union requests the following information:
  • To decide if a grievance exists, and if it does, to prepare and process the grievance, the Union requests the following information:
  • The Union requests the following information relevant to the above named grievance:
  • 1.
  • 2.
    3.
    4.


    The Union reserves the right to request further relevant information on this matter. Please provide this information by ________________. Please notify the Union immediately if there are any difficulties in providing any of this information.


    SAMPLE WRITTEN REQUEST

    To: (Name of Boss)
    From: (Union Representative)
    Re: (Contract clause, grievance, subject of inquiry)
    Date: _________________
    Dear __________:

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course

LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Online Shop Steward Training Course providing up to date Information for Stewards, Local Union Officers, and LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Members who want to know more about their rights, the law & its protections, workplace issues and the benefits of having an LEOSU-DC / VA Local 104 Union Contract. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Workplace Rights
  • Duty of Fair Representation
  • Union Rights – Management Rights – Recognition Clause
  • Weingarten Rights
  • Steward’s Rights

Negotiations/Contract
  • Negotiating a Union Contract
  • Breaking in a New Boss
  • Mid Contract Bargaining Changes
  • Mandatory and Permissive Subjects of Bargaining

Protecting Jobs
  • Protecting Jobs, Union Wages and Benefits

Worker-Friendly Laws
  • Using the FMLA
  • Military Service and Members’ Rights
  • Using ADA in the Workplace

Effective LEOSU-DC Local Unions
  • What’s the Union Ever Done for Me? Getting Free-Riders to Push
  • Welcoming New Employees Into the Union
  • Building a Healthy Union – Checklist

Grievance Handling
  • Union Members Have A Right to the Grievance Procedure
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 1
  • Information Requests
  • Investigating Grievances
  • Just Cause – Using the Seven Tests
  • On the Job: Avoiding the Pitfalls
  • Winning Past Practice Grievances
  • Grievance Procedure – Step 2
  • Investigating Grievances – NLRA
  • Whether or Not to Arbitrate
  • Shop Steward Books by Work Rights Press
  • Shop Steward Grievance Form

Collective Bargaining

  • Collective Bargaining Rights​
  • Notice of Bargaining Obligation NLRB

​
©2017 LEOSU-VA Local 104, Law Enforcement Officers Security Unions LEOSU-DC, a division of LEOSU, affiliated with the Law Enforcement Officers Security & Police Benevolent Association (LEOS-PBA) all rights reserved. ​
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.