aerial photo of the campus in the fall season

About Collective Bargaining

What is collective bargaining?

Collective bargaining is the joint process whereby employees, collectively through their unions or "bargaining agents," negotiate with their employer the terms and conditions of their employment.

Terms and conditions of employment can include working conditions, hours of work and wages of the collective employees.

Collective bargaining is regulated within a well-defined legal framework, with labour legislation having a very regulatory role over the management-union relationship.

What is a collective agreement?

A collective agreement is a written contract of employment covering a group of employees who are represented by a union. This agreement contains provisions governing the terms and conditions of employment. It also contains the rights, privileges and duties of the employer, the union and the employees.

The collective agreement is the expected outcome of the bargaining process.

What does a collective bargaining unit mean?

The collective group of employees that a union represents at collective agreement negotiations is called the collective bargaining unit.

Bargaining units at VIU

VIU has three main bargaining units and a sub-local. Employees at VIU generally belong to one of the unions or to the excluded administrative group. Other work units that are outside of the bargaining units include students, project personnel, CE Instructors, etc. Visit employee agreements for details on the different employment bargaining units.