collective bargaining

collective bargaining, the ongoing process of negotiation between representatives of workers and employers to establish the conditions of employment. The collectively determined agreement may cover not only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions, job functions, working conditions and hours, worker discipline and termination, and benefit programs. Collective bargaining existed before the end of the 18th century in Britain; its development occurred later on the European continent and in the United States, where Samuel Gompers developed...