Collective agreement in Russian legislation: establishment and development

Nowadays it is hardly possible to imagine that law does not regulate the labour relations between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Intensive development of industry at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, employers aspiration to obtain the maximum profit from their plants and factories led to severe exploitation of the working class. In these circumstances, workers commenced realizing their social interests and defending them through negotiations on wages, hours, and labour conditions with the assistance of trade unions. The article focuses on the history of establishment and development of collective agreements. The analysis of the history demonstrates that the former practice of concluding collective agreement depended largely on the political and economic situation of the country. Currently, legal regulation of collective agreements is enshrined in the Labour Code of the Russian Federation sufficiently in detail. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that the process keeps developing alongside with improvement of social and labour relations.