wider scope.

This article reports on findings of a research on collective bargaining released by the International Labor Organization in 1977. It shows that collective bargaining has spread beyond its original use as a means of settling wages and basic working conditions. For example, collective agreements have been made in many countries to protect workers in the event of a cut-back in production. Others now include investment policy and work organization among the subjects for negotiation. Detailed clauses governing the relations between the parties to the collective agreement have become a customary feature in many countries. Collective bargaining also covers increasing number of workers. It has spread to the nationalized countries in France and to farming in parts of the U.S. In the U.S. in 1976, more than 200,000 collective agreements were signed. In Germany, the total was about 8,000, covering more than 90 percent of all workers in the country. About 75 percent of British workers and more than 50 percent of French workers are covered.