More “CYAs” To Add To Your List
By
Melissa M. Thiel Collar
WPPA
Staff Attorney
If any of you have attended Director of Legal Services Gordon McQuillen’s seminars at
the WPPA convention, you will be familiar with his continual “CYA” reminders to our members,
including “Cover Your Assets.” As many of you approach bargaining for your contracts and as
chiefs of police and sheriffs increase their efforts to discipline our members, this reminder cannot
be overemphasized. Here is another “CYA” to add to your list and a refresher on an old one.
Collectively Bargain Through Your Agent
Recently, employers have been making a proposal to our local bargaining teams that must be resisted —— “If you go to the bargaining table without your WPPA Business Agent, we won’t bring in our labor attorney” (or some other individual). Make no mistake about it, this offer has only one party’s interests in mind —— the employer’s.
In most instances, management personnel have received formal or informal training —— plus extensive on-the-job training, as well as years of experience —— in labor relations, including collective bargaining. Even when an employer foregoes having an attorney at the table, the employer likely does not go to the bargaining table without individuals who possess such skills in labor negotiations. Much of this experience will go beyond having negotiated with just your bargaining unit. The individuals who sit across the table from you usually will have negotiated with other bargaining units and against other business agents, too.
Your WPPA Business Agent also has such formal and informal training. Unlike the employer, however, it is most likely that no other individual on your side of the table has had such training. Just as an officer would not engage in law enforcement action for which he or she had not received the proper training, the local Association should not enter into negotiations without the presence of an individual trained in labor negotiations.
You may have heard that the Association has a “duty of fair representation” to all of its members. More than in any other area, the duty of fair representation is at issue in bargaining for a collective bargaining agreement. Your WPPA Business Agent has significant knowledge of this duty and when it comes into play during bargaining. However, without your WPPA Business Agent at the table with your local Association, the local is placed in a precarious position.
For example, in one recent case that has come to our attention, an employer convinced a local Association to enter into negotiations without its WPPA Business Agent being present, and then made a bargaining proposal to eliminate the grievance procedure in the collective bargaining agreement in exchange for a generous increase in wages. Since the Association had never had a grievance in the past, the offer seemed great at the time, and the Association agreed. Inevitably, and predictably, the Association began to experience problems with the employer and had no recourse to resolve those problems.
Consult Your Association or Attorney
This “CYA” can not be emphasized enough. If you have the unfortunate experience of being ordered into your supervisor’s office or being called at home by your supervisor to “discuss an issue,” and you reasonably believe that discipline could result from the meeting, you need to have a member of the Association (most likely the Association President or Grievance Officer) or your WPPA Business Agent represent you at the meeting. You have the right to ask that a representative be present at the meeting and the employer must not only comply with the request but also give you a reasonable amount of time to have that representative be present. It is your choice, within reason, as to who you would like to be your representative in such a meeting —— whether it be a member of the Association, your WPPA Business Agent, or an attorney. (Please note, however, that the WPPA does not routinely provide an attorney for “run-of-the-mill” pre-determination interviews. Your Business Agent will be the contact with the WPPA Legal Department if the need arises for an attorney to be contacted.)
Routinely, officers go into these meetings unrepresented because they just want to “clear the air” with their supervisors. Make no mistake about it: there is no such thing as “clearing the air” when discipline is involved. Going into such meetings alone will only make it more difficult for you down the road.
Likewise, when you are ordered to do a report or a “matter of” from which you reasonably believe discipline could ensue, you have the right to consult with a representative of your choice before submitting the writing to a supervisor. The employer must give you a reasonable amount of time to consult with your representative prior to submitting a requested report. Just as with interviews and conversations, it is equally important that you consult a representative prior to completing such reports.
As we remind you in every legal article, please consult with your WPPA Business Agent when these or other issues arise. It is crucial that your WPPA Business Agent be kept apprised when collective bargaining or disciplinary issues may be involved.
