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.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 ==
The term "collective bargaining" was first used in 1891 by Beatrice Webb, a founder of
the field of industrial relations in Britain.
It refers to the sort of collective negotiations and agreements that had existed since the
rise of trade unions during the 18th century.
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.
== International protection ==
The right to collectively bargain is recognized through international human rights conventions.
Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies the ability to organize
trade unions as a fundamental human right.
Item 2(a) of the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles 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.
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.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.
== 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.
Unions tend to equalize the income distribution, especially between skilled and unskilled workers.
The welfare loss associated with unions is 0.2 to 0.5 of GDP, which is similar to monopolies
in product markets.
== 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.
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, 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.
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.The industrial
revolution brought a swell of labour organizing in the US.
The American Federation of Labor was formed in 1886, providing unprecedented bargaining
powers for a variety of workers.
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.
In 1962, President Kennedy signed an executive order giving public-employee unions the right
to collectively bargain with federal government agencies.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.
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.
== Sweden == In Sweden the coverage of collective agreements
is very high despite the absence of legal mechanisms to extend agreements to whole industries.
In 2016, 84% of all private sector employees were covered by collective agreements, 100%
of public sector employees and in all 90% (referring to the whole labor market).
This reflects the dominance of self-regulation (regulation by the labour market parties themselves)
over state regulation in Swedish industrial relations.
== 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
== Notes