According to section 157 of the Cameroon labour code of 1992, a collective dispute is characterized by;
- The intervention of a group of wage earning workers, whether or not the said workers are organized in trade unions, and
- The collective nature of the interest at stake.
If a dispute has the above characteristics, the procedure to settle the dispute shall conform to section 157 (2) of the Cameroon labour code of 1992 which stipulates that “settlement of any collective labour disput shall be subject to conciliation and arbitration procedures in conformity with section 158 and 164 of the same labour code”. However, before statutory provisions of conciliation and arbitration, section 158(2) of the labour code of 1992 provides that where the collective agreement did not provide for conciliation procedure or in case of failure of such procedure, the competent inspector of labour and social insurance shall immediately convene the parties and attempt to bring about an amicable settlement.