It started out by not going to a company meeting, which I had to go to dental appointment for a shattered tooth to get fixed.
I told the foreman that I wouldn't be able to go to the meeting that morning due to having a dental appointment as I was on call if any cancellation took place and to which it happened.
A couple days later, was called in for alleged insubordination charge for not attending the now mandatory dog and pony show. Was written up with a warning being in effect for 1 year.
Have it going through grievance now, but was wondering what the laws are on companies not allowing an employee to seek or to delay medical attention. What labor or constitutional law would this fall under.
I was told I could arrange my medical needs around company meetings as these are very important, yeah right.
Don't know how to proceed except letting the union run its course on grievance, but I like to have a backup just in case.
I have a letter from the dentist saying this was an emergency type situation on the tooth because of consideration of pain.
 

Call a lawyer and get a opinion from them It doesnt sound right in my opinion but Im no laywer!

I may do that. This really gets to me as I have a spotless record, including 14 years of not missing a day. Do believe they are trying to get rid of some employees, just like to go on my own terms though.
Anyone else out there having the companies doing this crap to you to try and get you to quit or get enough warnings for termination.

Let the Union rep. do his job.
Get a copy of your Union contract, absorb it,
carry it with you everyday. Trust no one when
it comes to your rights.

Listen to this one.

disclaimer. This story related to me by Robert
LiGeire, candidate for Mayor in the City of Port
Richey Florida.
A secretary of the Port Richey Police Dept.
awoke one morning to pain from impacted wisdom
teeth. Called her Dentist, got the voice mail,
left her message, went to work, told Chief Downs
her boss. Later that day she was called by the
Dental office and was told they cold take her
in one hour. She went to tell the Chief and he
called in Sgt. Sagar and gave her a polygraph.
She then left to go to the Dentist and while
enroute she noticed a City of Port Richey Police
car following her, car was most definitly
outside of its jurisdictional area, and  
continued to follow her until she pulled into
the parking lot of the Dentist.

Feeling better already arn't you.

Get your contract and become one with it.

1) Was it stated in the meeting notice that it was mandatory?

2) When you notified your immediate supervisor or your impending absence did he approve it and/or notify you of the mandatory nature of the meeting?

3) Did your supervisor excuse you from attending the meeting? Any provisions of that excuse?

4) Do you have a copy of the meeting notice?

Just a few points to consider.

If the answer to most of these is yes then you should not have been disciplined and have a righteous beef.

1st stage of grievance this morning.
Was told I was being insubordinate to management for not going to meeting even though a letter from dentist clearly stated I was on emergency type call when a cancellation came up.
The union tried to get it dropped at the 1st stage, but it will probably go through all the stages until arbitration.
These are the following points that grievance were filed on.(real great company I work for)
1. Meetings were never mandatory before.    
2. If I attended meeting, overtime would have been involved, so is OT now mandatory.
3. Medical attention became secondary to company's meeting.
4. Because of varying shiftwork hours and the company's policy of a well rested workforce, it is the employee responsibility to seek the needed hours of sleep. This meeting fell right at the end of graveyard shift, therefor the sleep pattern I set for myself would have been hampered by staying over.
Thought you all might enjoy the read and it goes to show, watch your back at work because like me, I was one of the top employee, now I'm on the sh!t list after 14 years of service.

Did the other employees get paid for this mandatory meeting???

I think it is very important to verify if whether or not the meeting was announced beforehand as mandatory. You need to get your hands on a copy of the memo. If there was no memo then I don't see how the mandate could be enforced.  

Been on the union side of things for a long while ( even negotiated these kinds of things along with worse) and it looks like you shouldn't have a problem if your union is any good at all.

Would you mind telling us the name of the company? Contract or no, mandatory meeting or no, this is really horrible employee relations--though this sort of 19th century thinking still exists.

ar-snpr... I am only a law student and I took labor law a while back, but if you are in a Union, this is certainly something that your Union reps should file a grievance for.  I'm sure that there is something in your unions collective agreement that addresses such matters.  If the company has violated this agreement than they have violated the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) and your grievance will be heard by an ALJ.  Hopefully it will all be settled before there is a need for the board (NLRB-National Labor Relations Board) to get involved.  Let us know what happens.

With all the guys out here who like to bash the unions, ever wonder what would happen if you were in this situation and didn't have someone to watch your back?
Good luck ar-snpr, I think you will win this one.
just my 0.02 Ron

In my opinion, you should not be going on an AR forum for legal advice.  Any opinions that are given on this forum is just that an opinion.  I would suggest that you do some research online or offline to find out what labor laws there are in your area.  Just because you take a few law courses in college and you watch law & order does not consititue your a bona fide legal eagle  (as I stare at myself in the mirror)...on the serious note, I would get in contact with some of the more prominate lawyers in your area and see what they suggest to you.  If you live in PA, I could point out a law Professor that I had.  Good luck in trying to resolve the disputes.

You either have some suckass new management who still think they are working in non-union industry or you have a lousey union.
If your union is any good, just blow it off they can't touch you and file a grievance that you are being harrased!!!