Collective bargaining agreements

Scope

Employees who are in a union, as well as their employers, are impacted by the terms and conditions of collective bargaining agreements.

Regulatory citations

• None

Key definitions

• Collective bargaining: The method whereby, certified or otherwise, properly designated representatives of employees (unions) and employers determine the conditions of employment through direct negotiation. This process normally results in a written contract setting forth the wages, hours, and other conditions to be observed for a stipulated period (e.g., 3 years). The written contract is known as a collective bargaining agreement.

Summary of requirements

• NLRA contains the guidelines. Collective bargaining as defined in the National Labor Relations Act. Section 8(d) requires an employer and the representative of its employees to meet at reasonable times, to confer in good faith about certain matters, and to put into writing any agreement reached, if requested by either party.
• Duty to bargain imposed on both employer and union. The duty to bargain obligations are imposed equally on the employer and the representative of its employees. It is an unfair labor practice for either party to refuse to bargain collectively with the other. The obligation does not, however, compel either party to agree to a proposal by the other, nor does it require either party to make a concession to the other. Section 8(d) provides further that when a collective-bargaining agreement is in effect no party to the contract shall end or change the contract unless the party wishing to end or change it takes the following steps:
  • The party must notify the other party to the contract in writing about the proposed termination or modification 60 days before the date on which the contract is scheduled to expire. If the contract is not scheduled to expire on any particular date, the notice in writing must be served 60 days before the time when it is proposed that the termination or modification take effect.
  • The party must offer to meet and confer with the other party for the purpose of negotiating a new contract or a contract containing the proposed changes.
  • The party must, within 30 days after the notice to the party, notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service of the existence of a dispute if no agreement has been reached by that time. Said party must also notify at the same time any State or Territorial mediation or conciliation agency in the State or Territory where the dispute occurred.
  • The party must continue in full force and effect, without resorting to strike or lockout, all the terms and conditions of the existing contract until 60 days after the notice to the other party was given or until the date the contract is scheduled to expire, whichever is later.
• What is an appropriate bargaining unit? A unit of employees is a group of two or more employees who share a community of interest and may reasonably be grouped together for purposes of collective bargaining. The determination of what is an appropriate unit for such purposes is left to the discretion of the NLRB.
• Who can or cannot be included in a unit? A unit may cover the employees in one plant of an employer, or it may cover employees in two or more plants of the same employer. In some industries in which employers are grouped together in voluntary associations, a unit may include employees of two or more employers in any number of locations.
  • It should be noted that a bargaining unit can include only persons who are “employees” within the meaning of the Act. The Act excludes certain individuals, such as agricultural laborers, independent contractors, supervisors, and persons in managerial positions, from the meaning of “employees.” None of these individuals can be included in a bargaining unit established by the Board.
  • In addition, the Board, as a matter of policy, excludes from bargaining units employees who act in a confidential capacity to an employer’s labor relations officials.
• Duties of bargaining representative and employer. Once an employee representative has been designated by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit, the Act makes that representative the exclusive bargaining agent for all employees in the unit. Normally, the designation takes place through an NLRB election. As exclusive bargaining agent it has a duty to represent equally and fairly all employees in the unit without regard to their union membership or activities. Once a collective-bargaining representative has been designated or selected by its employees, it is illegal for an employer to bargain with individual employees, with a group of employees, or with another employee representative.