- collective bargaining
- A course of conduct or process calculated to insure freedom of negotiation in the settlement of issues involved in labor disputes and to facilitate an arrival at equitable understandings respecting hours of employment, wages, working conditions, and other matters of concern in employer-employee relationships.The negotiation of terms and conditions of employment between an organization acting on behalf of the employed, and an employer, or association of employers, in contradis tinction to bargaining between an employer and an individual employee. Anno: 95 ALR 11. The right of a labor union to bargain collectively on behalf of its members, including by implication that which is reasonably necessary to protect that right. Art Metals Constr. Co. v NLRB (CA2) 110 F2d 148. Whatever may have been the law of earlier times, it is now crystal clear that the rights of working men to organize and to designate their representatives for purposes of collective bargaining are clearly recognized both by the courts and statutes. No longer can there be doubt that a labor union when authorized by its members may make contracts in their behalf. 31 Am J Rev ed Lab § 86. As contemplated by the National Labor Relations Act, collective bargaining is a procedure looking toward the making of a collective agreement between the employer and the accredited representative of his employees concerning wages, hours and other conditions of employment. It requires that the parties involved deal with each other with an open and fair mind and sincerely endeavor to overcome obstacles or difficulties existing between the employer and the employees to the end that employment relations rnay be stabilized and obstruction to the free flow of commerce prevented. NLRB v Boss Mfg. Co. (CA7) 118 F2d 187.
Ballentine's law dictionary. Anderson, W.S.. 1998.