The Legal Nature of Collective Bargaining Agreements

Authors

Archibald Cox, Harvard Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

One reflecting upon the legal nature of a collective bargaining agreement can hardly avoid beginning with the thought that the institution has flourished outside of the courts and administrative agencies and often in the face of legal interference. The law had fallen into disrepute in the world of labor relations because it failed to meet the needs of men. Collective bargaining agreements were negotiated and administered without regard to conventional legal sanctions. Grievance procedures and arbitration evolved into an intricate and highly organized, private judicature. Many experienced and perceptive observers argued that the conventional sanctions for commercial contracts should not apply to labor agreements.

Recommended Citation

Archibald Cox, The Legal Nature of Collective Bargaining Agreements, 57 Mich. L. Rev. 1 (1958).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol57/iss1/2