There are four reasons why collective bargaining, the process of negotiating a collective agreement, is valuable:
Democracy
The process of creating a collective agreement introduces democracy into the workplace by allowing workers to participate in developing workplace policies and procedures.
Distributive Fairness
Collective bargaining empowers workers to bargain for more rights together over individual employees bargaining for more rights alone.
Improved Productivity
Economists state that collective bargaining helps to improve productivity. Unionized environments often have lower turnover. Management is often forced to adopt more efficient practices as a result of the bargaining process.
‘Spillover Effect’
Even in non-unionized environments, the benefits secured by collective bargaining often are adopted by non-union firms!
David J Doorey, “The Law of Work: Common Law and the Regulation of Work,” 56.
Donald D. Carter et al, “Labour Law in Canada,” 38.
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