About AFGE

The American federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union representing over 600, 000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. 

Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services. 

The union is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is divided into 12 geographical districts consisting of some 1,100 locals. 

More than one-half of AFGE’s members are consolidated into agency-wide bargaining units. Agencies with the highest concentration of union membership include the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Justice. Recently the TSA has joined AFGE. 

EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION

In a 1975 case (NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689), the U.S. Supreme Court announced the rights of unionized employees to have a union representative present during investigatory interviews. These rights have become known as the Weingarten rights.  Employees have Weingarten rights only during investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his or her conduct. 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.

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