Parallel or Pattern Bargaining
Parallel bargaining is the process by which unions negotiate terms for pay and other benefits that are comparable to those found in other contracts in the sector or area. Another name for it is pattern bargaining.
In parallel or pattern bargaining, a union sets the order in which it will negotiate with companies within a sector; the union’s take-it-or-leave-it offer for any future talks is based on the agreement reached with the first company. As an instance, a union may choose out a business, negotiate a favourable contract, and designate the new conditions as the “pattern.” Labor unrest was expected to ensue if other corporations in that sector failed to adopt a similar strategy.
Through a procedure known as “pattern bargaining,” a trade union may get a new and better entitlement from one company and then use that agreement as precedent to seek the same or an even better entitlement from other companies.
Unions like the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers invented pattern bargaining in the United States. Finding a target employer who is most likely to consent to a favourable employment contract is the first stage in the negotiation process. On the plus side, the chosen business will have a chance to shape the industry contract; on the negative side, labour relations might be disrupted in the event that talks break down or stagnate. The union calls this contract a “pattern agreement” and makes it available to the other employers as a take-it-or-leave-it offer once it has been successfully negotiated and approved by the unionised workers.
In Australia, the WorkChoices Act, which has since been abolished, explicitly prohibited pattern bargaining. After winning the 2007 election, the Labor Party overturned the ban, however pattern bargaining remained illegal under Labor’s Fair Work Act, which went into effect on July 1, 2010