Collective bargaining is the process by which working people, joining in union, negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment, including pay, benefits, hours, leave, job health and safety policies, ways to balance work and family and more. Collective bargaining is a way to solve workplace problems and gives workers a stronger voice in improving their own job conditions.

The legal rights and processes of collective bargaining are protected and regulated by the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935. A number of states have passed or attempted to pass laws to weaken collective bargaining rights by limiting the power of trade unions to represent the good-faith interests of public and private sector employees.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

AFL-CIO Fact Page on Collective Bargaining