Union recognition means that an employer acknowledges a particular union as the bargaining agent for some or all of the employees at his or her workplace. Once the union is recognized, the employer will bargain collectively with that union. When a majority of employees at a workplace indicates that it wishes to be represented by a particular union, the law now requires that the employer recognize the union. Before the law set out the process for union recognition, an employer was free to disregard the union, even if most employees belonged to it. March 2016