Archive: December 2005

Assert Your Rights
By Steve Kaplan, UniServe Field Organizer

Each month, this column has been highlighting significant provisions in the Collective Negotiations Contract. The contract rights you possess are made real when individuals or groups of teachers make the decision to insist on those rights being honored.

ASSERT YOUR RIGHTS. If an administrator wants to meet with you and:

• There is reasonable expectation that discipline may occur
• You will be discussing an adverse evaluation
• A complaint has been lodged
• You have a grievance

This is the appropriate statement for you to use:

"I am an SDEA member and I am claiming my right to union representation under the US Supreme Court Weingarten ruling."

When faced with a possible contract issue at your work site, what should you do to maximize your ability to enforce your rights? If the issue involves evaluation or discipline, here are some suggestions:

• Remain calm and courteous.
  
• Ask that your Association Representative be present. Whenever possible, consult with your AR in advance.
  
• Listen carefully to any accusations and then ask for time to respond.
  
• Don't admit guilt or blame.
  
• Don't sign or make any verbal agreements (signatures that do not express agreement but merely that the administrator is following required procedural steps are permissible).
  
• Keep copies of all papers relating to the situation.
  
• Make written, dated records of any conferences with administrators, including names of witnesses and others involved.
  
• CONTACT YOUR SDEA SITE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVE

You have the right to:

• Halt any conference already in progress if it becomes disciplinary, and to reschedule when representation is available
  
• Have the meeting at a time and date that is convenient for you and your representative