The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Unicef define collective bargaining as a process through which workers—through their unions—negotiate contracts with their employers to determine their terms of employment.
ILO Convention (No. 154) observes that collective bargaining is a process through which employers and workers’ representatives (unions) determine working conditions and terms of employment; and/or regulate relations between employers and workers; and/or regulate relations between employers or their organisations and a workers’ organisation or workers’ organisations.