Check the member's rights, log what is alleged, and get drafts for before, during and after the meeting. Notes stay on this device.
Use when management calls a meeting that could lead to discipline.
When to use
Use when management calls a meeting that could lead to discipline.
Use the employer's words where you can. This appears in the follow-up message.
Tap a rung from your collection ladder to add it to the notes.
Learn about progressive discipline — Officer Learning keeps a teaching diagram; your collection ladder can differ when local practice does.
Optional discipline ladder reference
Progressive discipline ladder
Map steps already on file before you negotiate the next one.
Using: Local — Generic progressive (coaching first)
Confirm rung names against your collective agreement and local practice. This diagram is a reference aid, not legal advice.
1Letter of counsel / coaching
→
2Written warning
→
3Suspension
→
4Termination
For your notes only. The member's account is never placed in a message to the employer.
Your drafts
Anything in [square brackets] still needs filling in. Check the drafts against your collective agreement before you use them. They are a starting point, not legal advice.
Still to confirm: advance notice, representation, disclosure.
In the meeting
• The employer has not shared what it is relying on. Ask for it before the member answers detailed questions.
• Ask the employer to state each allegation and what it is based on.
• Take notes: who is in the room, the time, each question and each answer.
• The member answers what is asked, briefly and truthfully. No guessing.
• Ask for a break whenever the member needs one or something new comes up.
• Ask what earlier steps are on the member's file, and check whether any should have come off under the collective agreement.
• Before the meeting ends, ask what happens next and when.
Before the meeting: message to the employer
Subject line: Meeting with [member's name] on [meeting date]
Hello [employer contact],
I am the union steward for [member's name]. [member's name] has been asked to attend a meeting on [meeting date], and I will attend with them.
Please confirm in writing what the meeting is about and whether it could lead to discipline.
Before the meeting, please send me what the employer is relying on, including any statements, records or video.
If that cannot be done before [meeting date], I ask that the meeting be moved so that [member's name] and I have time to prepare.
Thank you,
[your name]
Union steward
After the meeting: follow-up to the employer
Subject line: Follow-up to our meeting on [meeting date] about [member's name]
Hello [employer contact],
Thank you for meeting with [member's name] and me on [meeting date]. I am writing to confirm the union's understanding of the meeting.
The employer raised the following: [what the employer alleged]
The union has not yet received what the employer is relying on. Please send it before any decision is made.
Please send any decision to me as well as to [member's name]. The union reserves its right to grieve any discipline that results.
Thank you,
[your name]
Union steward
Note for the member
Subject line: Getting ready for the meeting
Hi [member's name],
You have been asked to a meeting. I will be there with you. Here is how to get ready.
Before the meeting:
- Write down what happened in your own words, with dates and names. Give it to me, not to the employer.
- Gather anything that backs it up, such as emails, schedules or messages.
- Please do not talk it over with co-workers or managers until we have spoken.
In the meeting:
- Listen to the whole question before you answer.
- Answer truthfully and briefly. If you do not know or do not remember, say so.
- You can ask for a break at any time. So can I.
- Do not sign anything at the meeting. Ask for a copy and we will read it together.
Afterwards, tell me about anything the employer says to you about this.
[your name]