Collective Bargaining Information

   Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize collectively and bargain with employers regarding the workplace. In various national labor and employment law contexts collective bargaining takes on a more specific legal meaning. In a broad sense, however, it is the coming together of workers to negotiate their employment.

   A Collective agreement is a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions. Collective bargaining consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of a union and employers (represented by management, in some countries by employers' organization) in respect of the terms and conditions of employment of employees, such as wages, hours of work, working conditions and 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).

   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 against workers because of their union membership or 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.

   The industrial revolution brought a swell of labor organizing in the US. The American Federation of Labor was formed in 1886, providing unprecedented bargaining powers for a variety of workers.[4] The 1926 Railway Labor Act required employers to bargain collectively with union. In 1930 the United States 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.[4] In 1962 President Kennedy signed an executive order giving public employee unions the right to collectively bargain with government agencies.

 The basic rights of Employees according to Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act clearly states that employees shall have the right to self-organization; to form, join, or assist labor organizations; to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Section 7 also protects workers' rights to join labor unions which will best represent their interests and/or to take other collective action to defend their rights in the workplace. The act officially recognizes that under modern economic conditions "an individual unorganized worker is commonly helpless to exercise actual liberty. As a declared national policy, the NLRA encourages collective bargaining, defines the rights of employees and employers in this process, and seeks "to eliminate certain practices on the part of labor and management that are harmful to the general welfare."