Collective

bargaining

Collective bargaining is a process of

negotiation between employers and a
group of employees aimed at agreements
to regulate working salaries, working
conditions, benefits, and other aspects of
workers' compensation and rights for
workers. The interests of the employees
are commonly presented by
representatives of a trade union to which
the employees belong. The collective
agreements reached by these negotiations
usually set out wage scales, working
hours, training, health and safety, overtime,
grievance mechanisms, and rights to
participate in workplace or company
affairs.[1]

The union may negotiate with a single

employer (who is typically representing a
company's shareholders) or may negotiate
with a group of businesses, depending on
the country, to reach an industry-wide
agreement. A collective agreement
functions as a labour contract between an
employer and one or more unions.
Collective bargaining consists of the
process of negotiation between
representatives of a union and employers
(generally represented by management, or,
in some countries such as Austria,
Sweden and the Netherlands, by an
employers' organization) in respect of the
terms and conditions of employment of
employees, such as wages, hours of work,
working conditions, grievance procedures,
and about the rights and responsibilities of
trade unions. The parties often refer to the
result of the negotiation as a collective
bargaining agreement (CBA) or as a
collective employment agreement (CEA).
History

Beatrice Webb in 1894

The term "collective bargaining" was first

used in 1891 by Beatrice Webb, a founder
of the field of industrial relations in
Britain.[2] It refers to the sort of collective
negotiations and agreements that had
existed since the rise of trade unions
during the 18th century.
United States …

In the United States, the National Labor

Relations Act of 1935 made it illegal for
any employer to deny union rights to an
employee. The issue of unionizing
government employees in a public-sector
trade union was much more controversial
until the 1950s. In 1962 President John F.
Kennedy issued an executive order
granting federal employees the right to
unionize.

An issue of jurisdiction surfaced in

National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic
Bishop of Chicago (1979) when the
Supreme Court held that the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could not
assert jurisdiction over a church-operated
school because such jurisdiction would
violate the First Amendment
establishment of freedom of religion and
the separation of church of state.[3]

International protection
The right to collectively
...where free
bargain is recognized unions and
through international collective
human rights conventions. bargaining
Article 23 of the Universal are

Declaration of Human forbidden,

Rights identifies the ability freedom is

to organize trade unions as lost.[4]

a fundamental human Ronald

right.[5] Item 2(a) of the Reagan,
Labor Day
International Labour
Speech at
Organization's Declaration
Liberty State
on Fundamental Principles
Park, 1980
and Rights at Work defines
the "freedom of
association and the effective recognition
of the right to collective bargaining" as an
essential right of workers.[6] The Freedom
of Association and Protection of the Right
to Organise Convention, 1948 (C087) and
several other conventions specifically
protect collective bargaining through the
creation of international labour standards
that discourage countries from violating
workers' rights to associate and
collectively bargain.[7]

In June 2007 the Supreme Court of

Canada extensively reviewed the rationale
for regarding collective bargaining as a
human right. In the case of Facilities
Subsector Bargaining Association v. British
Columbia, the Court made the following
observations:

The right to bargain collectively

with an employer enhances the
human dignity, liberty and
autonomy of workers by giving
them the opportunity to
influence the establishment of
workplace rules and thereby
gain some control over a major
aspect of their lives, namely
their work… Collective
bargaining is not simply an
instrument for pursuing
external ends…rather [it] is
intrinsically valuable as an
experience in self-government…
Collective bargaining permits
workers to achieve a form of
 workplace democracy and to
ensure the rule of law in the
workplace. Workers gain a voice
to influence the establishment of
rules that control a major
aspect of their lives.[8]

Empirical findings
Union members and other workers
covered by collective agreements get,
on average, a wage markup over their
nonunionized (or uncovered)
counterparts. Such a markup is typically
5 to 10 percent in industrial countries.[9]
 Unions tend to equalize the income
distribution, especially between skilled
and unskilled workers.[9]
The welfare loss associated with unions
is 0.2 to 0.5 percent of GDP, which is
similar to monopolies in product
markets.[9]

Sweden
In Sweden the coverage of collective
agreements is very high despite the
absence of legal mechanisms to extend
agreements to whole industries. In 2017,
83% of all private sector employees were
covered by collective agreements, 100% of
public sector employees and in all 89%
(referring to the whole labor market).[10]
This reflects the dominance of self-
regulation (regulation by the labour market
parties themselves) over state regulation
in Swedish industrial relations.[11]

United States
In the United States, the National Labor
Relations Act (1935) covers most
collective agreements in the private sector.
This act makes it illegal for employers to
discriminate, spy on, harass, or terminate
the employment of workers because of
their union membership or to retaliate
against them for engaging in organizing
campaigns or other "concerted activities",
to form company unions, or to refuse to
engage in collective bargaining with the
union that represents their employees. It is
also illegal to require any employee to join
a union as a condition of employment.[12]
Unions are also able to secure safe work
conditions and equitable pay for their
labor.

At a workplace where a majority of

workers have voted for union
representation, a committee of employees
and union representatives negotiate a
contract with the management regarding
wages, hours, benefits, and other terms
and conditions of employment, such as
protection from termination of
employment without just cause. Individual
negotiation is prohibited. Once the
workers' committee and management
have agreed on a contract, it is then put to
a vote of all workers at the workplace. If
approved, the contract is usually in force
for a fixed term of years, and when that
term is up, it is then renegotiated between
employees and management. Sometimes
there are disputes over the union contract;
this particularly occurs in cases of workers
fired without just cause in a union
workplace. These then go to arbitration,
which is similar to an informal court
hearing; a neutral arbitrator then rules
whether the termination or other contract
breach is extant, and if it is, orders that it
be corrected.

In 24 U.S. states,[13] employees who are

working in a unionized shop may be
required to contribute towards the cost of
representation (such as at disciplinary
hearings) if their fellow employees have
negotiated a union security clause in their
contract with management. Dues are
generally 1–2% of pay. However, union
members and other workers covered by
collective agreements get, on average, a 5-
10% wage markup over their nonunionized
(or uncovered) counterparts.[9] Some
states, especially in the south-central and
south-eastern regions of the U.S., have
outlawed union security clauses; this can
cause controversy, as it allows some net
beneficiaries of the union contract to avoid
paying their portion of the costs of
contract negotiation. Regardless of state,
the Supreme Court has held that the Act
prevents a person's union dues from being
used without consent to fund political
causes that may be opposed to the
individual's personal politics. Instead, in
states where union security clauses are
permitted, such dissenters may elect to
pay only the proportion of dues which go
directly toward representation of
workers.[14]

The American Federation of Labor was

formed in 1886, providing unprecedented
bargaining powers for a variety of
workers.[15] The Railway Labor Act (1926)
required employers to bargain collectively
with unions.

In 1931, the Supreme Court, in the case of

Texas & N.O.R. Co. v. Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks, upheld the act's prohibition
of employer interference in the selection
of bargaining representatives.[15] In 1962,
President Kennedy signed an executive
order giving public-employee unions the
right to collectively bargain with federal
government agencies.[15]

The Office of Labor-Management

Standards, part of the United States
Department of Labor, is required to collect
all collective bargaining agreements
covering 1,000 or more workers, excluding
those involving railroads and airlines.[16]
They provide public access to these
collections through their website .

OECD
Only one in three OECD employees have
wages which were agreed on through
collective bargaining. The Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development,
with its 36 members, has become an
outspoken proponent for collective
bargaining as a way to ensure that the
falling unemployment also leads to higher
wages.[17]

See also
11 U.S.C. § 1113 – Rejection of
Collective Bargaining Agreements
Boulwarism
Canadian labour law
Enterprise bargaining agreement
Labour law
Labour economics
UK labour law
US labor law
Right-to-work law
Surface bargaining
Right to Organise and Collective
Bargaining Convention, 1949
2011 Wisconsin protests, related to
attempts to reduce or eliminate
collective bargaining rights for public
employee unions in Wisconsin
2011 United States public employee
protests
Civic Openness In Negotiations
 Project Labor Agreement

Notes
1. "BLS Information" . Glossary. U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of
Information Services. February 28,
2008. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
2. Adrian Wilkinson et al. eds. (2014).
Handbook of Research on Employee
Voice . Edward Elgar Publishing.
p. 227. ISBN 9780857939272.
3. Pynes, J.E. & Lombardi (2011) Human
Resources Management for
Healthcare Organizations. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
4. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archive
s/reference/9.1.80.html
5. United Nations General Assembly
(1948). "Article 23". Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Paris.
Retrieved August 29, 2007.
6. International Labour Organization
(1998). Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work . 86th
Session: Geneva. Retrieved August 29,
2007.
7. "C087 - Freedom of Association and
Protection of the Right to Organise
Convention, 1948 (No. 87)" .
 International Labour Organization.
Retrieved 24 October 2013.
8. Health Services and Support –
Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn.
v. British Columbia [2007] SCC 27
Archived July 12, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine.
9. Toke Aidt and Zafiris Tzannatos
(2002). "Unions and Collective
Bargaining" .
10. Anders Kjellberg (2019)
Kollektivavtalens täckningsgrad samt
organisationsgraden hos
arbetsgivarförbund och fackförbund ,
Department of Sociology, Lund
 University. Studies in Social Policy,
Industrial Relations, Working Life and
Mobility. Research Reports 2019:1,
Appendix 3 (in English) Table F
11. Anders Kjellberg (2017) ”Self-
regulation versus State Regulation in
Swedish Industrial Relations” In Mia
Rönnmar and Jenny Julén Votinius
(eds.) Festskrift till Ann Numhauser-
Henning. Lund: Juristförlaget i Lund
2017, pp. 357-383 357-383ning. Lund:
Juristförlaget i Lund 2017, pp. 357-383
12. "Can I be required to be a union
member or pay dues to a union?" .
 National Right To Work. Retrieved
2011-08-27.
13. "National Right to Work Foundation »
Right to Work States" . www.nrtw.org.
14. "Communications Workers of America
v. Beck" . Retrieved 2011-08-27., 487
U.S. 735.
15. Illinois Labor History Society. A
Curriculum of United States Labor
History for Teachers Archived 2008-
05-14 at the Wayback Machine. Online
at the Illinois Labor History Society
Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback
Machine. Retrieved on August 29,
2007.
16. "Collective Bargaining Agreements
File: Online Listings of Private and
Public Sector Agreements" . Office of
Labor-Management Standards
(OLMS). Retrieved 1 May 2015.
17. lars. "OECD: The crisis is over, but
collective bargaining is needed for
wage growth — Nordic Labour
Journal" .
www.nordiclabourjournal.org.

References
Buidens, Wayne, and others. "Collective
Gaining: A Bargaining Alternative." Phi
Delta Kappan 63 (1981): 244-245.
DeGennaro, William, and Kay Michelfeld.
"Joint Committees Take the Rancor out
of Bargaining with Our Teachers." The
American School Board Journal 173
(1986): 38-39.
Herman, Jerry J. "With Collaborative
Bargaining, You Work with the Union--
Not Against It." The American School
Board Journal 172 (1985): 41-42, 47.
Huber, Joe; and Jay Hennies. "Fix on
These Five Guiding Lights, and Emerge
from the Bargaining Fog." The American
School Board Journal 174 (1987): 31.
Kjellberg, Anders (2019) "Sweden:
collective bargaining under the industry
norm" , in Torsten Müller & Kurt
Vandaele & Jeremy Waddington (eds.)
Collective bargaining in Europe: towards
an endgame, European Trade Union
Institute (ETUI) Brussels 2019. Vol. III
(pp. 583-604).
Liontos, Demetri. Collaborative
Bargaining: Case Studies and
Recommendations. Eugene: Oregon
School Study Council, University of
Oregon, September 1987. OSSC Bulletin
Series. 27 pages. ED number not yet
assigned.
McMahon, Dennis O. "Getting to Yes."
Paper presented at the annual
conference of the American Association
of School Administrators, New Orleans,
LA, February 20–23, 1987. ED 280 188.
Namit, Chuck; and Larry Swift.
"Prescription for Labor Pains: Combine
Bargaining with Problem Solving." The
American School Board Journal 174
(1987): 24.
Nyland, Larry. "Win/Win Bargaining
Takes Perseverance." The Executive
Educator 9 (1987): 24.
O'Sullivan, Arthur; Sheffrin, Steven M.
(2003) [January 2002]. Economics:
Principles in Action. The Wall Street
Journal: Classroom Edition (2nd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458:
Pearson Prentice Hall: Addison Wesley
Longman. p. 223. ISBN 0-13-063085-3.
Smith, Patricia; and Russell Baker. "An
Alternative Form of Collective
Bargaining." Phi Delta Kappan 67 (1986):
605-607.
Alberta Human Rights Act, RSA 2000, c
A-25
Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms
Donnelly, Jack. "Cultural and Universal
Human Right". Human Right Quarterly
6(1984): 400-419
Dunmore v. Ontario (Attorney General),
[2001] 3 S.C.R. 1016, 2001 SCC 94
Health Services and Support—Facilities
Subcontractor Bargaining Assn. v.
British Columbia, [2007] SCC 27, [2007]
2 S.C.R. 391
Mathiesen, Kay. "labor laws on
unionization and collective bargaining —
comparative study". Journal of
information Ethics. 3(2009):245-567.
Print.
Sitati, Ezekiel. "Examining the
development sin the labor laws".
Melbournes Journal of politic
3(2009):55-74. Print
 Ontario (Attorney General) v. Fraser,
2011 SCC 20
Reference Re Public Service Employee
Relations Act (Alberta), [1987] 1 S.C.R.
313

External links
Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard
Law school
Collective Bargaining Subject Guide at
the ILR School, Cornell University
Collective Bargaining, Labor Law, and
Labor History at DigitalCommons@ILR
Collective Bargaining Agreements at
DigitalCommons@ILR
 GVSU links to actual arbitration awards
and collective bargaining resources

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Collective_bargaining&oldid=958275621"

Last edited 17 days ago by ClueBot NG

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.