Three Questions about Hearing Witnesses
Stewards and other union officers spend much of their time challenging discipline assessed on our members. This means much of the steward’s time is spent preparing for and attending disciplinary hearings, trials, or fact-findings. The conduct of these meetings is often quite similar.

At some point a witness is called to offer information or corroborate fact. Your contract, negotiated rules, or practice may permit you to bring witnesses to the hearing. A steward may choose to exercise that right if it may strengthen the case. That choice must be made with great care. Witnesses are never perfect. They are human, like the rest of us.

At some point you need to consider the three basic questions to ask yourself about the witness.

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 questioned and interpreted in more than one way. For example, a witness might say, "She came back to the gate a moment later." That isn' very clear. How much time is a moment? Wouldn't the statement be clearer if the witness 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 meanings for years.

You also want to establish facts, not opinions. Prior to the meeting, you should challenge your witnesses to give you the facts and 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 add to the hearing officer's knowledge?
If the answer is "no," why are you calling that witness? You need a presentation strategy and theory of what happened before you walk into that room. Don't count your witnesses. If there are 6 witnesses, pick the best two. You can always ask them, on record at the hearing, if there were any other witnesses present.

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

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 more believable. 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 witness tell their story two or three times to you 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 your case in your meeting.

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