Police Administration/Criminal Justice

Collective bargaining refers to the negotiation that takes place between an employer and its employees or their representative , aimed at confronting the issues relative to the terms and conditions of employment such as wages and work hours . The employer is usually represented at the negotiation by its management people while the employees have , for their representative , their certified labor union The objective of such a negotiation is to generate a mutually acceptable collective bargaining agreement which must be adhered to by both parties , until another agreement takes its place in the future

br Collective bargaining in the United States is mainly governed by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (NLRA . Under this federal law employees have the right to join labor unions for the purpose of collectively bargaining for favorable employment terms . Employers , on the other hand , are required to negotiate with the certified representatives of their employees (GAO

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB ) was created by the NLRA to enforce the provisions of the Act , particularly the determination of a labor union 's qualifications as certified representative of the concerned employees . In to ensure proper compliance of the law and constrain employers to negotiate in good faith , activities classified as unfair labor practices were prohibited . These activities include

Dominating or otherwise interfering with formation of a labor union including the provision of any financial or other support

Interfering with or restraining employees engaged in the exercise of their rights to organize and bargain collectively

Imposing any special conditions of employment which tended either to encourage or discourage union membership

Discharging or discriminating against an employee because he had given testimony or d charges under the Act and

Refusing to bargain collectively with unions representing a company 's employees (Lectric Law Library

Allegations of violations of unfair labor practices could be d with the NLRB . After conducting a proper and thorough investigation , the NLRB is empowered to either or a combination of the following : a stop to the conduct of such activities , payments of back pays reinstatement of employees terminated for union activities and reinstating their rank , and all other benefits due the affected employees (Lectric Law Library

Although the NLRA theoretically applies to all employees , some sectors of the workforce are actually excluded from coverage , namely supervisors and managers independent contractors employees of certain small businesses domestic workers agricultural workers and federal state , and local government employees . Nevertheless , some of these sectors who were left out have managed to acquire collective bargaining rights under separate federal and state laws . The federal Railway Labor Act which covers airline and railroad employees , for instance , is a case in point . When this law took effect nine years before the NLRA , it granted collective bargaining rights to all subordinate officials In so doing , it allowed many supervisors to take part in , and benefit from the process . In the matter of state and local government employees , most of them were granted collective bargaining rights under state laws . As of 2001 , records...