Frequently Asked Questions

Joining AFGE is very easy!  Please contact the union office either by phone (785-350-3982) or via email (afge906@gmail.com) and we will send you an 1187.  Once that is completed, return it to us and we will get it processed.

This depends on whether you are Full-time or Part-time. 

• Full-time members pay $23.41/pay period
• Part-time members pay $11.21/pay period.

Note this is not per month - but every two weeks.

Weingarten rights guarantee an employee the right to Union representation during an investigatory interview. These rights, established by the Supreme Court, in 1975 in the case of J'. Weingarten Inc,, must be claimed by the employee. 

What is an Investigatory Interview?
An investigatory interview is one in which a Supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his/her conduct. If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or discharge may result from what they say, the employee has the right to request Union representation.

Examples of such an interview are:

1. The interview is part of the employer's disciplinary procedure or is a component of the employer's procedure for determining whether discipline will be imposed.
2. The purpose of the interview is to investigate an employee's performance where discipline, demotion or other adverse consequences to the employee's job status or working conditions are a possible result.
3. The purpose of the interview is to elicit facts from the employee to support disciplinary action that is probable or that is being considered, or to obtain admissions of misconduct or other evidence to support a disciplinary decision already made.
4. The employee is required to explain his/her conduct, or defend it during the interview, or is compelled to answer questions or give evidence.

It is an obligation of the Union to educate bargaining unit employees about their Weingarten rights BEFORE an occasion to use them arises. An employee must state to the employer that he/she wants a Union representative present; the employer has no obligation to ask the employee if she/he wants a representative.

Weingarten Rules
When an investigatory interview occurs, the following rules apply:

Rule 1 - The employee must make a clear request for Union representation before or during the interview. The employee can't be punished for making this request.

Rule 2 - After the employee makes the request, the supervisor has 3 options. They must either: 

Grant the request and delay the interview until the Union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee: or
Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
Give the employee a Choice of: 1)having the interview without representation or 2) ending the interview

Rule 3 - If the supervisor denies the request and continues to ask questions, this is an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employee cannot be disciplined for such refusal but is required to sit there until the supervisor terminates the interview. Leaving before this happens may constitute punishable insubordination.

Remember:  If this meeting could in any way lead to you being disciplined or discharged, request that a Union representative be present at the meeting. Without representation, you can choose not to answer any questions.    Discipline will not be overturned if the discipline was for reasons other than insistence on Weingarten rights. Any information gained by the Employer from the employee in a meeting during which a breach of Weingarten rights occurred may be excluded from a hearing on the matter.

Weingarten meetings and fact-finding meetings are something you can certainly request union representation for.  Anytime you have a meeting you feel could lead to disciplinary action, you have the right to representation.  If you start the meeting, realize that is what it is about, you have the right to stop the meeting and ask for representation.  If you don't, but continue on, understand that is on you.  If you ask for represenation in such meetings, they should be stopped until a union representative can attend with you, or rescheduled so you can have representation.

Also remember that fact-findings may not be about you.  You may be called into a fact-finding meeting because it is believed you may be able to provide evidence regarding another's actions.  Even in that case, you have the right to representation.

There a three basic types of discipline the agency can impose under the current Master Agreement:  Disciplinary Actions, Adverse Actions, and Major Adverse Actions.

Disciplinary Actions: These are admonishments and reprimands.  If issued, they will be in your Official Personnel File (OPF) for either 2 years (admonishment) or 3 years (reprimands).  You can ask to have either removed after six months, and if not further discipline has been taken against you, the agency will usually agree to do so.

Adverse Actions:  Suspensions (usually under 15 days for Title 5 employees), which can vary in length depending on the severity of the infraction.  Suspensions will be placed in your OPF and will never be removed.

Major Adverse Actions:  Supensions (usually 15 days or longer for Title 5 employees) or termination.  This is pretty self-explanatory:  a termination is removal from federal service, and like suspensions, will be placed in your OPF and never be removed.

If the agency is levying any sort of disciplinary action against you, please contact us at afge906@gmail.com for any advice or questions you may have.  You have a right to have a union representative with you at any/all meetings regarding disciplinary actions.  

Counselings are not considered a disciplinary action, and as such the Agency does not have to allow us to attend those meetings.  Some supervisors are OK if you want to have union representation while others will say no.  If they do issue a counseling without a union representative present, unfortunately it does not violate the Master Agreement and we cannot fight them solely based on that.

Generally we cannot attend Monthly Performance Meetings between you and your supervisor.  That is private communication between you and them.  However, if you feel that during that meeting that something is coming up that may result in a disciplinary action, you can ask for the meeting to be stopped until you can have a union representative present.

To reach out to us, please send a message to afge906@gmail.com.  That will be sent out to all of us.  You can also reach us by dialing the main office line at 785-350-3982.  If you call and nobody answers, feel free to leave a message.  Probably the best way to reach us, though, is the email group listed above.