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IBEW
FACT SHEET
Collective Bargaining... The Facts
What is collective bargaining? Collective bargaining is the process of
workers, as a group, securing their terms and
conditions of employment through negotiation of a
legal, binding compact defining the terms and
conditions of employment for both employee and
employer.
What is the final result of collective bargaining?
In collective bargaining, a group of employees seeks
to define their terms and conditions of employment
in a legal, binding contract. Dependent upon what
the employees want and can negotiate with the
employer, a contract can contain such provisions as
hours of work, wage and salary definitions, safety
and work rules, definition of benefits, and orderly
procedures for resolution of differences.
In most states, workers without an employment
contract are "at will" employees. They serve at the
whim and will of the employer.
Why is collective bargaining beneficial ? The following points identify the importance of
collective bargaining to workers:
- By organizing and acting in concert, workers
achieve bargaining parity with their employers.
- Through collective bargaining wages are taken
out of competition and employment conditions are
standardized.
- Collectively bargained wages and conditions,
which reflect the relative strength of the
contending parties, are almost always more
beneficial to workers than what an employer
would offer absent a union.
- The source of workers' collective bargaining
power is their credible threat of collective
action against an employer.
- Without a union, employers are free to act as
dictators in the workplace and to set and change
conditions for employees as management alone
chooses to. With a union, democracy is
introduced into the workplace and employees
achieve more control over their work lives
(where they spend a majority of their waking
hours).
- Without a union, employees can only expect
limited statutory rights, i.e., minimal
standards established by law. Application of
these standards may be lax because employees
are unaware of their rights. With a union,
employees can win a wide range of benefits that
otherwise could be withheld by the employer,
including vacations, sick pay, grievance
procedures, etc. With a union, employees become
workplace advocates for themselves.
- When workers win better wages and benefits
through collective bargaining, they also need a
written contract that is binding and enforceable
in a court of law; this clearly establishes that
the employer's formerly unlimited discretion is
formally constrained by the terms of the
collective bargaining agreement.
Does Collective Bargaining have a demonstrated
effect on wages and benefits? Most definitely. Surveys by the Government's
Bureau of Labor Statistics point out that on
average, Union workers enjoy a 36.4% greater wage
and benefit package as compared to unorganized
workers. In wages alone, Union workers enjoy, on
average, a 21.4 % better paycheck than unorganized
workers.1
When
workers act together, workers win. When workers act
individually, the employer wins.
- As published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
in their year-end report, dated March, 1997,
Union workers enjoyed an average wage and
benefits package of $23.48 per hour, compared to
$17.21 for non-union workers. In benefits
alone, Union workers enjoyed an average 8%
better benefits package than unorganized
workers. For wages, the average hourly rate for
Union workers was $15.15; for non-union workers,
the rate was $12.48 Source - U.S. Department of
Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual
Survey, March, 1997
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