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Ontario|Employment LawUnion / Labour Issues 628 What is a Collective Agreement? 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. As it is the collective agreement that establishes employees' and the union's actual rights at the workplace, every union relationship will either eventually result in a collective agreement or, very rarely, the abandonment by the union of its representation rights or the termination of those rights by employees.
Any term or condition of employment can be the topic for negotiations and be dealt with in the collective agreement. For very large bargaining units, the collective agreement may be hundreds of pages long. In a typical manufacturing plant or retail store, collective agreements are more usually about 30 pages long.
- What do collective agreements deal with?
Collective agreements often deal with the following:
- wage rates,
- health benefits,
- layoff rules,
- the right to challenge employer disciplinary actions,
- vacation entitlement,
- holidays,
- bereavement leave,
- jury duty leave,
- promotion selection rules, and
- occupational safety provisions.
The collective agreement will also require that union dues be deducted from all the employees by the employer and sent to the union.
Procedures for enforcing employee rights are also set out in collective agreements. It is the responsibility of the trade union to enforce employee rights by filing a grievance and when necessary pursuing the issue to arbitration. Usually, employees must seek union representation to pursue their rights if a complaint is rejected by their immediate supervisor. The exact process of 'filing a grievance' and even proceeding to arbitration with a dispute varies in different collective agreements. For more information about grievance and arbitration procedures, refer to other sections of Legal Line .
- Negotiating a collective agreement
Within a short time after the union receives certification by the Labour Board, the union will commence the collective bargaining, or negotiating, process with the employer. The purpose of the negotiations is to reach an agreement on a collective agreement.
In negotiations the employees will be represented by an elected committee and a professional trade union staff member who is employed for this purpose.
Once a tentative agreement is reached between the employer and the union representatives, every union member has an opportunity to vote to accept or reject it. If 50% of the union members who actually vote accept the agreement, it then becomes legally binding. If the union members do not accept the agreement, the employer and the union representatives may continue negotiating. Alternatively, the union may call for a strike vote. A strike vote must also receive 50% support from those voting. Very rarely, where a union can neither obtain a ratification or a strike authorization, it will abandon its right to represent the employees.
Typically, the entire process takes as long as six months for the first collective agreement to be negotiated. Renewal agreements will take a few months to negotiate as well, but while they are being negotiated the old agreement remains in force.
Collective Agreements are most often for a two year period, sometimes three and occasionally one. As the expiry of the period of agreement nears, the union and the employer will commence negotiations for a renewal.
If the employer and the union cannot agree to a first or renewal agreement, then the union can recommend that employees engage in a strike to put pressure on the employer. There are complex rules in the Labour Relations Act that govern both the approval process and legal timing of a strike. Employers can also "lock out" employees to put pressure on the union, but lockouts are in fact rare.
While a collective agreement is in force, it can be changed only by voluntary, mutual agreement. A change in its period of existence must be approved by the Labour Board.
For more information about unions, refer to other sections of Legal Line .
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