What is the Bargaining Unit?
The employees who are covered by the contract are members of the bargaining unit; at Addison Wesley Longman this includes non-supervisory staff with the exception of assistants to corporate officials and a few others who are considered “confidential” employees (meaning that they have access to confidential information).
The term “bargaining unit” confuses a lot of people. In any workplace, “management” decides what work is done. “Labor” carries out the work. Labor is a commodity – it has value and is “bargained,” or negotiated. Labor is also carried out under prescribed conditions (safely and efficiently). Conditions of employment can also be bargained. A bargaining unit consists of any group of non-management employees affected by a change in the value, condition, or procedure of work. It also refers to any collective group of non-management employees. It is sometimes used to refer to all employees represented by NTEU.
Related Questions
- Why has CUPE chosen to group all paramedics into a larger bargaining unit rather than allowing the Paramedics to negotiate their own benefits package?
- Can the problem of rising health care costs be solved at the bargaining table?
- C 1.4. What is the mechanism in use in Collective Bargaining Instruments?
