BARGAINING

When workers bring in a union, the union meets with management to try and bargain a contract.


That contract sets the workers' wages, benefits, hours and "terms and conditions of employment".


Here are FACTS you should know about contract bargaining:

 

  • Union-represented workers can, and often do, lose pay or benefits as a result of bargaining.

 

  • It's the union, not the workers, that decides what to accept or reject during bargaining.

 

  • Some things don't change as a result of bargaining. Other things workers may not want to change, change anyway.

 

  • Unions say unionized workers get higher pay, but the facts don't show that bringing in a union raises pay. 

 

  • Today, many companies are having to cut union pay and jobs because they can't afford the contracts that were bargained during better times.

The law says bargaining is a potentially risky process. When bargaining is done and a contract is agreed to, you could get more, the same or less than you had before bargaining began.