Your Legal Right to Union Representation

As a bargaining unit member of the Riverside City Teachers Association, you are guaranteed specific rights by the (EERA) Educational Employment Relations Act (basically, our Labor Code). The most far-reaching benefit of EERA to you is that RCTA has the right to negotiate your working conditions with the employer and to file grievances if administration violates any provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We did not have those rights before 1975.

As an individual, one of the most important provisions of this law is that you have the right to have union representation at a meeting with the employer if you have a reasonable expectation that discipline may result from that meeting. It is important that you know this right and exercise it if the occasion arises. Some circumstances where you may need or want RCTA representation is:
• The principal (or any administrator) calls a conference and you have reason to believe that you may receive a reprimand (even a verbal reprimand) or any other disciplinary action.
• You receive a negative overall evaluation rating.
• You believe there has been a contractual violation and a possible grievance.
• A meeting has been arranged to resolve a complaint against you.

Most importantly, if you are in the middle of a meeting with an administrator that may have seemed harmless at the beginning, but now looks like it might lead to a disciplinary action, you have the right to halt that meeting and demand postponement until you are able to obtain representation. Know who your building RCTA reps are and keep the number of the RCTA office handy. Memorize the following quote, so you are prepared to stop any meeting with an administrator if you believe it could be disciplinary.