Have you heard about your Weingarten rights? In short, you have a right to union representation in any meeting with an administrator that you reasonably believe could result in disciplinary action. Here's some information from the California Teachers Association (CTA):

If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he or she says, the employee has the right to request union representation. When the employee makes the request for a union representative to be present, management has three options:

(1) they can stop questioning until the representation arrives.

(2) they can call off the interview or,

(3) they can tell the member that they will call off the interview unless the member voluntarily gives up his/her rights to union representation (an option the member should always refuse).

And you have the right to representation of your choice. Administrators cannot assign you a representative based on their convenience. The National Labor Relations Board states: 

An employee may choose their own representative, who may be a representative of the union or a fellow employee.  Employers are required to honor that request, so long as that choice does not unduly interfere with the employer’s ability to conduct its investigation.

If you ever feel the need for union representation, you can always stop the meeting immediately and request the presence of a SMEEA representative of your choice. The meeting cannot resume until a union rep is present, even if it means the meeting has to be rescheduled. This is not dependent upon the convenience of the administrator-- or availability of subs-- and it does not depend upon the administrator to decide whether or not you believe it could be disciplinary. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to one of your SMEEA representatives at your school site.

If you feel that your Weingarten Rights have been violated, please get ahold of your  SMEEA President Kristen Lohr immediately.  You can also reach out to one of the executive team members listed on our website.

See the attached image for what to say to invoke your Weingarten rights.