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Trade Unions and Labor

What goes in a Contract?

Since many people have little experience with contracts, I thought it might be helpfulto some to outline what goes into them. Legally, I should say that every contract is theproduct of negotiation, so that it is possible that a contract could look completelydifferent than the one outlined below.

That said, a few generalizations: most contracts are about 25-30 pages long, and, whileboring to read, are not so difficult to understand. They usually last between 3 and 5years. Contracts are to be taken as the minimum compensation for employees: if an employerwanted to suddenly introduce a stock option plan that is not in the contract, the employeris free to do so--but not as a substitute for anything in the contract. The following listof stuff is typical in contracts. I've worked under several and have read a dozen. All ofthem contained these provisions:

As I mentioned, the above was standard in the contracts I read or worked under. Whatfollows, however, varied from contract to contract. This is the section where employeeswould have to prioritize what they would like to go after in a contract as it is unlikelythat, in a first contract, all of this stuff would make it in.

There are many other things that can and do go into contracts: they are tailored foreach industry, shop, factory, etc., but this should give you some idea of what contractscover.

Once more, I should mention that a union cannot guarantee anything in a contract. But,if you read a few contracts, you do begin to see the many things that unions usually dosecure for employees. If you have questions, feel free to contact amatth13@dolphin.upenn.edu, orcontact a local union representative.

From: http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~amatth13/Contract.html

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