A bargaining unit is a group of employees that perform similar work and usually share a work area. Generally employees in a bargaining unit have similar interests and concerns when it comes to working conditions - like pay, hours of work and conditions of the workplace and come together for the purpose of collective bargaining. A bargaining unit may also be a group of similar workers that work in different places in different shops, but do the same work. Often a bargaining unit will make up an entire union, but it is also not uncommon for a bargaining unit to be a slice of a bigger union.