Abstract
This paper is intended to clarify the criteria used to differentiate the individual from the collective nature of labour disputes in Ethiopian labour law, and to cast light on processes and powers assigned to the actors to seek a settlement. To this end, an analysis of the provisions laid down in the Labour Proclamation will be carried out, alongside an overview of legal opinion and the precedents set by the Cassation Division of the Federal Supreme Court. The aim here is to provide the readership – whether practitioners and the general public – with some useful insight into a neglected – yet crucial – topic of national labour law.