Can management order a worker to open a locker without a steward being present?
Yes. Locker searches, car searches, or handbag searches are not interviews. Employees do not have a right to insist of the presence of a steward. Q An employee was given a written warning about poor attendance and told he must participate in absence counseling sessions with a member of the personnel department. Does the worker have a right to demand the presence of a union steward at the counseling sessions? Yes and No. This depends on whether the employee has a reasonable fear that the counseling sessions could result in further discipline. If notes from the sessions are kept in the employee’s permanent record, or if other employees have been disciplined after counseling sessions, the employee’s fears would be reasonable and would entitle him to bring a steward. But if the employer gives firm assurances that the meetings will not be used for further discipline and promises that the conversations will remain confidential, Weingarten probably would not apply.
