ULPs Ensure Company Complies With NLRA

The Courts Have Given Unions Broad Access to Information

The Goldilocks case involves the single most common ULP charge stewards make: refusing to provide information. Whether through ignorance of the law or plain arrogance, many employers deny union representatives the information they need to process grievances or bargain a new contract.

The NLRA and subsequent court decisions have given unions broad access to company information that is necessary for the union to do its job.

You may request relevant information at any point in the grievance process — during your initial investigation, when preparing for a grievance meeting, when deciding whether to drop the case or go up another step, and when preparing for arbitration.

You can't go fishing — that is, you must request specific information that applies to your case — but nearly any information the company has must be made available to you if it applies. Attendance records, company memos, disciplinary records, job assignments, payroll records, personnel files, reports, studies, and supervisors' notes are all fair game if relevant to your case.

You may also make a general request of a type: "Please supply all documents or records which reflect the factors causing you to reject this grievance." Though it doesn't name the documents, it specifies an identifiable group of records.

Often, the company will deny a request because the information is "personal." For example, if you're investigating a member's claim that he is not getting the overtime hours he deserves, you may ask to see the company's payroll records. That is, indeed, "personal" information, but if those records are key to determining whether your grievant is being treated unfairly, the company must open them up.

However, some information — e.g., medical records and aptitude tests — is truly confidential. In these cases, the law protects the privacy of the records, and the company does not have to provide you this information.

In "right-to-work" states, employers often incorrectly believe they do not have to provide information on nonmembers. If the union needs that information to conduct its business, the company must supply it.

For example, one local asked for the names and addresses of all bargaining unit employees prior to a contract negotiation. The company said they would provide only the union members' names and addresses, saying nonmembers are not the union's concern.

But the NLRB sided with the union when the local argued that they needed to be able to contact all bargaining unit employees in order to learn what changes they wanted in the contract. Although nonmembers do not get to vote on the contract, they must live under it, and the union must consider their input when negotiating.