Negotiations

A Collective Agreement

Negotiation is a process where two parties in a conflict or disagreement try to reach a resolution together. During a negotiation, the parties discuss the issues to come to a resolution. Collective Agreements are deals negotiated by unions and employers. Collective Agreements provide certain terms and conditions of employment for a group of employees, called the ‘bargaining unit,’ who are represented by a trade union.

Question: Why should I negotiate and bargain collectively?

Answer: Collective bargaining is a voluntary process used to determine terms and conditions of work and regulate relations between employers, workers and their organizations, leading to the conclusion of a collective agreement. Collective bargaining has the advantage that it settles issues through dialogue and consensus rather than through conflict and confrontation.

Question: Why is collective bargaining important for business?

Answer: Collective bargaining is a constructive forum for addressing working conditions and terms of employment and relations between employers and workers, or their respective organizations. It is often more effective and more flexible than state regulation. It can help in anticipating potential problems and can advance peaceful mechanisms for dealing with them; and finding solutions that take into account the priorities and needs of both employers and workers. Sound collective bargaining benefits both management and workers, and the peace and stability it promotes benefit society more generally. Collective bargaining can be an important governance institution – it is a means of increasing the consent of the governed by involving them in the decisions that affect them directly.

 

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