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Witness for the Union

There are all kinds of unions and union contracts and ways that unions and employers deal with discipline cases. As varied as they may be, one of the things most of them have in common is using witnesses to get to the bottom of what happened and what should be done about it. How these witnesses perform can have a major impact on the outcome of your case, so you've got to be especially careful about selecting and using them.

You've got to be especially careful when selecting and using witnesses

In a informal setting, witnesses may be asked to tell what they know in a meeting with a supervisor at the early stages of the grievance process. In more formal settings, they may be called to participate in disciplinary hearings, fact findings, arbitrations, or even trials.

Whatever the setting, consider three basic questions to ask yourself about your witnesses. It will help you do the best job possible for a co-worker in a jam.

1. Does the witness possess the factual information needed to make your case?

The best witness offers information that can be viewed in one way only. Even if that isn't the case, you need to encourage as much clarity as possible.

Certain words can be interpreted in more than one way. For example, a witness might say, "She came back to the gate a moment later." That isn't very clear. How much time is a moment? Wouldn't the statement be clearer if the witnesses said, "She came back to the gate 10 minutes later"? Other words have unclear meanings. What is "a bad attitude"? What is "an OK employee"? What does it mean when the employer says our member has "a poor work record"? Many of us have been trying to figure out those meaning for years.

You also want to establish facts, not opinions. Prior to calling on your witness to offer evidence, you should challenge him or her to give you the facts an no opinions. Make your witness understand the difference between "I think it was late," and "It was 8:30 p.m." One answer is opinion, the other fact.

2. Will the witness' appearance contribute to your case?

If the answer is no, why are you calling that witness? You need a presentation strategy and theory of what happened before you try to make your case. Don't count your witnesses: it's not the number of witnesses that's important, it's their credibility. If you have six witnesses, pick the best two. You can always ask them, for the record, if there were any other witnesses present.

The danger with too many witnesses is that someone may not do well under questioning. You may find that the additional witness you added is a poor one and under cross examination he or she ruined your case.

When possible, have witnesses tell you their stories two or three times, before it counts

3. Will the witness testify in a credible and believable manner?

In most cases where you use a witness, the story will not be decided on who told the truth and who lied, but on who was considered more believable by a hearing officer, arbitrator or other third party. You must do all in your power to make your witness credible. Some of the credibility may come from establishing simple facts, such as could the witness see or hear what they said they could see or hear. You need to determine the physical layout of the place in question. Who sat where? Who stood where?

If you have the time, have your witnesses tell their stories to you two or three times before the meeting. Listen for clues that show weak recall or inconsistency.

The bottom line is you need to be as sure as possible about your choice of witnesses and what they will say. It is often in the telling of the tale that may win the your case.

--Robert Wechsler. The writer is education director for the Transit Workers Union of America

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