CBA Collective Bargaining Agreements A collective bargaining agreement collectively establishes the terms under which an employer offers individual employment contracts to each of its employees in the bargaining unit. A contractual agreement, hereinafter also referred to as an employment contract, is a legally enforceable written commitment, which establishes the rights and obligations of all parties involved. The employment contract must be stipulated in good faith and is intended to be observed and not violated. The National Labor Relations Act requires employers and unions to bargain in good faith over terms and conditions of employment, including hours and wages. Like any normal contract, the relevant parties must conclude an employment contract. However, an employment contract is unique from other legal contracts in that it provides no consideration and nothing tangible is exchanged. Many, but not all, unions require formal ratification of a new employment contract through acceptance by a majority of members, which is determined through a member vote. Until the approval of a majority of voters in the ratification elections is obtained, the proposed employment contract will not be final. While each employment agreement is unique to the needs of an organization and its employees, most agreements include five issues: (1) Management Rights, (2) Union Security, (3) Wages and Benefits, (4 ) Individual security rights (seniority). and (5) Dispute Resolution. Management Rights “Management” is the process of working with people and resources to achieve organizational objectives by making the best possible use of money, time, materials and people. The management process, when properly executed, involves a wide variety of activities including planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. It is the job of management to perform all these functions in order to maximize results. Management retains the right to direct all company activities. To maintain as much authority as possible in the management of the workplace, the management has tried to include some provisions in the collective agreements. Management has no rights over individuals within the organization, but maintains ownership rights, which are real and legally enforceable. Management has sole discretion and flexibility regarding employment and discipline matters and reserves the right to assign measures to individuals within the company...... middle of paper... with the aggrieved worker and the representative meeting with the affected supervisor, followed by an appeals system with strict time limits and ultimately culminating in binding arbitration. When management and the union are unable to resolve a grievance filed by a union, the union must decide whether to proceed to the final stage of the grievance process: arbitration. Arbitration is an adversarial proceeding like a trial in court. An arbitrator's function is usually to interpret the collective bargaining agreement between the parties, not to apply his or her standards of what is right in a given situation. Courts have attempted to compel workers and management to peacefully resolve grievances through arbitration. The Supreme Court has supported the arbitration process in a series of decisions, and judicial referral to arbitration has become a fundamental principle of national labor policy. Bibliography Byars, L.L. (1997). Human resources management. Chicago, IL: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Mills, D. Q. (1994). Relationships between work and management. Hightstown, NJ: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Twomey, D. P. (1994). Right.