Collective bargaining is a performance of mutual obligation of employers and representatives of workers to meet at reasonable time and confer in good faith about working conditions, hours, wages, employment etc. or negation and execution of agreement.
Collective bargaining is a technique adopted by the organization’s workers and employers collectively to resolve their differences with or without the assistance of a third party. Its ultimate aim is to reach some settlement acceptable to both the parties involved in labour-management relation. It is a process of joint decision making and basically represents a democratic way of life in industry.
The British Industrial Relations Handbook (London 1953) defines collective bargaining as “those arrangement under which the wages and the conditions of employment are settled by a bargain, in the form of an agreement made between employers or association of employers or workpeople’s organisation.
Black's law dictionary defines Collective bargaining as "Negotiations between an employer and the representatives of organized employees to determine the conditions of employment, such as wages, hours and fringe benefits.
In simple words, we can say that collective bargaining:
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is a collective process in which representatives of both the management and employees participate.
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aims at establishing stable relationships between the parties involved.
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is a flexible approach, as the parties involved have to adopt a flexible attitude towards negotiations.