Research Guides: Labor Union Research for the Labor Relations Community: Collective Bargaining

What is Collective Bargaining?

Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees so as to determine the conditions of employment. The result of collective bargaining procedures is a collective agreement. Employees are often represented in bargaining by a union or other labor organization. Collective bargaining is governed by federal and state statutory laws, administrative agency regulations, and judicial decisions. In areas where federal and state law overlap, state laws are preempted. See, U.S. Constitution, Art. VI.

(From the Legal Information Institute)

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS & CONTRACT CLAUSES

CBA Databases & Online Repositories

Collective Bargaining Agreements File, OLMS, DOL
Collective bargaining agreements covering 1,000 or more workers, excluding railroads and airlines, are included in this file. Copies of agreements covering fewer than 1,000 workers are not included. This collection, formerly with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was transferred to OLMS in 2007. Separate private and public sector listings; many are available online in PDF format.
Collective Bargaining Agreements - U.S. Department of Labor (Catherwood Library, Cornell ILR)
Contracts from the DOL historical collection, up to 2006. Use repository search engine or downloadable spreadsheet to locate specific contracts.
Labor Contracts Database (IRLE, UC Berkeley)
A clearinghouse for digitized union contracts, organized by state, union name, and occupation. There is an emphasis on California contracts.
Public Sector Contracts (NJ PERC & James B. Carey Library)
New Jersey public sector contracts, including historical collection that goes back to the 1970s.

Public Sector: State Collections

Alaska: Bargaining Unit Contracts
Department of Administration: Personnel & Labor Relations
California: Bargaining Unit Contracts
Department of Personnel Administration
New Hampshire: Collective Bargaining Agreements
The New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board requires all public sector agreements to be filed with it. This is their collection of town, city and state contracts.
New York: State-Union Contracts
Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER). From administrative services to state police to college professors: CSEA, PBA, PEF, AFSCME, CWA/GSEU, UUP.
Oregon: Collective Bargaining Agreements
Chief Human Resources Office
Pennsylvania: Current Collective Bargaining Agreements
Office of Administration
Wisconsin: Employment Relations
Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission. CBA's for full range of state employees, including attorneys, engineers, doctors, building trades, teaching assistants, law enforcement, social services, technical, and administrative.

Sample Clauses Online

AFGE Contract Terms Handbook
This 103-page guide for members of the American Federation of Government Employees includes some useful material for all contract negotiators, including bad habits to avoid when drafting language. Published in 2002.
Bargaining for Family Issues: A Resource Guide for AFT Locals
Handbook full of contract language "representative" of what has been negotiated by AFT locals on such topics as benefits, domestic partnership, family leave, work options.
Collective Agreements and Older Workers in Canada
A study from the Human Resources Development Canada Labour Program that "identifies and analyzes provisions contained in major Canadian collective agreements that may have a direct bearing on the working conditions of older workers." Published in 2002.

Full-text Collective Bargaining Agreements

There are an increasing number of collective bargaining agreements available online. In some cases, summaries are available to everyone and the full-text is only available to union or association members. The agreements below were chosen as representative of different industries; in most cases researchers can access the full-text.

Animation Guild, Local 839 IATSE Master CBA
Associated General Contractors of Washington
Full Text of Master Agreements with Operating Engineers, Teamsters, Cement Masons, Laborers, Carpenters.
Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions & Kaiser Permanente
The landmark agreements establishing KP’s well-known labor-management partnership: the 1997 National Labor-Management Partnership Agreement & the current National Bargaining Agreement. See “local contracts” for over 25 CBA’s with individual unions covering nurses, technicians, optical workers, social workers, clerical workers, etc.
Congressional Research Employees Association (CREA), Local 75 IFPTE & The Library of Congress
CREA is a federal union representing all employees, from librarians to messengers, at the Congressional Research Service. Link to master contract is on home page.
SPEEA/IFPTE Local 2001 & Boeing, BAE, Triumph-Spokane, Spirit Aerosystems
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) provides professional representation to engineers, technical and other professionals. You can access contracts from various divisions of the above companies here, plus, in a couple of cases, benefit plan attachments for members and retirees.