What is a collective agreement?

A collective agreement is a contract that describes the terms and conditions of employment for employees in their workplace, the rights of employees, and the obligations of the employer. Collective agreements protect employees.

GSU’s collective agreements are negotiated between member-elected GSU representatives and their employers and ratified in separate votes by the GSU membership. The terms of the collective agreement are legally binding on the union and your employer, and they are enforceable under law.

Salary and benefits are among the most obvious and important matters described in a collective agreement. Collective agreements usually include clauses on working conditions such as hours of work and overtime, leave of absence provisions, vacation, seniority, transfers, resignation, termination, protection against arbitrary disciplinary action, access to your personnel file, and much more.

Examples of GSU’s collective agreements can be seen on GSU’s web page at www.gsu.ca.