Guide / CBA vs. Employment Contract
Comparison · Collective vs. individual
CBA vs. employment contract
Both are enforceable agreements about work — but they are negotiated by different parties, cover different people, and replace entirely different default rules.
| Collective bargaining agreement | Individual employment contract | |
|---|---|---|
| Negotiated by | Union (exclusive representative) and employer | One worker and the employer |
| Covers | Everyone in the bargaining unit, members or not | Only the signer |
| Job security | Just cause + grievance/arbitration | Usually at-will (U.S.) unless the contract says otherwise |
| Enforcement | Grievance procedure ending in binding arbitration | Courts (or private arbitration clauses) |
| Uniformity | One rulebook: scales, seniority, benefits for all | Individually bargained; unequal by design |
| Duration | Fixed term (typically 2–5 years), then renegotiated | Whatever the parties set; often indefinite |
| Benefits | Often funded through negotiated cents-per-hour into trust funds | Employer plan participation, individually granted |
Can you negotiate on top of a CBA?
Generally no — that's the point of exclusive representation. Individual side deals that conflict with the agreement are unenforceable, and employers may not bypass the union to deal directly with covered workers on mandatory subjects. Narrow exceptions exist (some agreements allow above-scale pay), but the agreement is the floor and usually the ceiling of individual dealing.
Which is “better”?
They solve different problems. Individual contracts serve people with individual leverage. CBAs manufacture leverage collectively — and then convert it into uniform, enforceable, multi-year rules with a private enforcement system attached. For pensions especially, only collective agreements routinely produce jointly trusteed funds with employer contributions measured in dollars per hour.
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