The CBA glossary

Collective bargaining has a vocabulary all its own. Forty-four terms, defined plainly — U.S. and Canadian.

Agency shop: A union-security arrangement where covered workers pay a fee instead of full dues. Barred in the U.S. public sector since Janus (2018) and in right-to-work states.
Arbitration: Final, binding resolution of a grievance by a neutral third party — the last step of most grievance procedures.
Bargaining unit: The group of jobs a union is certified to represent; defined in the recognition clause.
Checkoff: Payroll deduction of union dues by the employer, remitted to the union.
Concessions: Give-backs — contract terms surrendered in bargaining, usually under economic pressure.
Dues: Regular payments by members funding union operations; amounts are set by the union's constitution, collection mechanics by the CBA.
Evergreen clause: Duration language renewing the agreement automatically unless a party gives timely notice.
Exclusive representation: The principle that one union represents everyone in the unit — the foundation of the CBA system.
FMCS: The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; receives statutory bargaining notices and mediates disputes.
Good-faith bargaining: The legal duty to meet, confer, and genuinely attempt agreement on mandatory subjects — without being required to agree.
Grievance: A formal claim that the agreement has been violated, processed through the contract's stepped procedure.
Hiring hall: A union-operated dispatch system referring workers to signatory employers, common in construction and maritime.
Hour bank: Banked surplus hours that maintain benefits eligibility through slow months; standard in seasonal multi-employer plans.
Impasse: The point where good-faith bargaining is exhausted; unlocks unilateral implementation, strikes, and lockouts in the U.S. private sector.
Just cause: The discipline standard in nearly all CBAs: proven misconduct, fair process, proportional penalty.
Lockout: The employer's work stoppage — the mirror image of a strike.
Management-rights clause: Reserves to the employer all decisions the contract doesn't expressly limit.
MOU / side letter: A signed agreement outside the main contract body that amends or interprets it. Always read the side letters.
Multi-employer plan: A benefit plan funded by many employers under collective agreements and governed by joint trustees.
Negotech: The Government of Canada's public full-text database of collective agreements.
NLRB: The U.S. National Labor Relations Board — certifies representatives and polices unfair labor practices in the private sector.
No-strike clause: The union's promise not to strike during the term, exchanged for binding arbitration.
OLMS: The U.S. DOL Office of Labor-Management Standards; maintains the public CBA file and union financial reports (LM-2s).
Past practice: A consistent, accepted workplace practice that can acquire contractual force in arbitration.
Pattern bargaining: Negotiating one landmark settlement and extending its terms across an industry.
PBGC: The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, insurer of private defined-benefit plans, including a dedicated multiemployer program.
Pre-hire agreement: A construction-industry CBA (NLRA §8(f)) signed before workers are hired.
Rand formula: The Canadian arrangement deducting dues from every bargaining-unit employee, member or not.
Ratification: The membership vote approving a tentative agreement.
Recognition clause: Names the union as exclusive representative and defines the unit.
Remittance report: The employer's periodic report and payment of negotiated contributions to benefit funds — the raw feed of pension administration.
Reopener: A clause allowing mid-term renegotiation of specific articles, usually wages or benefits.
Right-to-work: U.S. state laws barring mandatory union dues or fees as a condition of employment.
Seniority: Length-of-service ranking governing layoffs, recalls, bidding, and more.
Shop steward: The elected front-line representative who enforces the contract on the floor.
Status quo doctrine: The U.S. rule that most terms continue after expiration while bargaining continues.
Successorship: What happens to the agreement when the business is sold — one of labor law's most litigated corners.
Taft-Hartley trust: A jointly trusteed benefit fund (equal union and employer trustees) funded by CBA contributions.
Tentative agreement (TA): A provisionally settled article or full contract awaiting ratification.
Union security clause: Contract language defining membership/dues obligations for covered workers, where lawful.
Vesting: The service threshold after which a pension benefit can't be forfeited.
Weingarten rights: The U.S. right to union representation in investigatory interviews that could lead to discipline.
Wildcat strike: A strike unauthorized by the union — typically a breach of the no-strike clause.
Zipper clause: Language closing the agreement as the parties' complete deal for its term.

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