• Ask for Your Steward. If management calls you into the office, ask for your steward. It’s your right and it’s common sense.

• Keep It Simple. Answer management’s questions with clear simple answers. Don’t fall for fishing expeditions.

• Don’t Remember? Just Say So. If management asks you about something and you don’t know the details, just say “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” The worst thing you can do is to make up a story and give management an excuse to try to discipline you for dishonesty.

• File a Grievance. If management gives you a warning letter, talk to your steward and file a grievance. Don’t let them build a case that they can use against you later.

If you’re called into the office, you have more than the right to have your shop steward present.

Your steward has the right to know what the meeting is about and to meet with you to talk before the meeting starts.

You also have a right to take a break during the meeting and talk to your steward privately. Just say you want to go in the hallway and “caucus” with your steward.

Use a caucus to ask questions, to fill your shop steward in on important facts and to get on the same page. That way, you can face management in a united way.