In one sense,
all union members are union stewards for we should all work to
ensure justice on the job. However, the official Union
Steward is often the face of the union to other members and to
the company. He is a chief enforcer of the contract and
members' representative to management. This page is designed
to provide a ready reference tool.
Weingarten
Rights. In 1975, in NLRB v. J.
Weingarten, Inc, the U.S. Supreme Court defined the rights of
employees in the presence of union representatives during investigatory
interviews. Since that case involved a clerk being investigated
by the Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as Weingarten
rights. In 2000, the NLRB
extended those rights to non-union
workplaces.