A master contract or master agreement is a
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...
agreement which covers all
unionized
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
worksites in an industry, market or company, and which establishes the terms and conditions of employment common to all workers in the industry, market or company.
[Najita, Joyce, and Roberts, Harold S. ''Roberts' Dictionary of Industrial Relations.'' Washington, D.C.: BNA Books, 1994. ][Rainsberger, Paul K. "Historical Models of Collective Bargaining in the U.S." In "Collective Bargaining." University of Missouri Labor Education Program. No date.](_blank)
Accessed July 30, 2008.
About master contracts
A master contract may be geographically limited and occur at the local, regional or national level. It may also be limited to a specific market, whether local, regional or national. Although a master contract governs the general terms of employment that apply uniformly across the company or industry, master contracts often provide for local terms to be negotiated.
Some master contracts may also permit local or regional variations in order to meet special economic, competitive, or other circumstances for a union or company.
For example, in the early 1980s the
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
exempted
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
from the master contract governing the U.S. auto industry because the company was in deep financial trouble.
[Levin, Doron P. "Chrysler Makes Plea To U.A.W." ''New York Times.'' July 21, 1990.]
Master contracts are common in the automobile manufacturing, shipping, package express, mining (especially coal mining), and general manufacturing industries. For example, the UAW and the
"Big Three" American automakers tend to operate in this pattern: the union selects one manufacturer with which it does most of its negotiation; when an agreement is reached, the union attempts to apply the same contract to the others.
Other areas where master agreements can be found include tire manufacturing, public education, baking, custodial and housekeeping services, and healthcare.
In some cases, the goal of a master agreement is to standardize pay and benefit conditions in a market or industry so that employers compete on the grounds of quality services, quality products, or improved
workplace safety.
[Royle, Tony and Towers, Brian. ''Labour Relations in the Global Fast-food Industry.'' New York: Routledge, 2002. ]
Master contracts also make it easier for newly organized workers, who get rolled into existing contract rather than having to negotiate their own first contract (with the risk that negotiations may drag on or collapse, causing the new union to eventually collapse).
Traditionally
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays o ...
, such contracts have been struck as exclusive class actions between the whole class of workers and the whole class of (or a single) employer(s), excluding the employment of any workers outside of it. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in particular there has been pressure from the employing class generally on this.
Strategy
When negotiating a master contract, the union often selects the financially strongest employer or worksite to negotiate with it. This agreement becomes the master contract, and
sets the pattern for bargaining with the other employers or worksites.
Master contracts can also be used strategically for other ends such as organizing and to break down employer resistance to collective bargaining. In Canada, unions have used master contracts to organize thousands of new workers. A master agreement has tended to weaken an employer's resistance to the spread of the union to unorganized worksites or divisions, and some industries and markets welcome the standardization of pay and fringe benefits that unionization brings. In the United States, some unions have sought to create master agreements which provide for a neutrality agreement, code of conduct for the organizing election, or neutral third-party oversight of an election in order to make union organizing easier.
[Kutalik, Chris. "Two Unions Enter Recognition Pact with Health Care Company." ''Labor Notes. July 2003.](_blank)
/ref> Some master agreements even state that new workers will automatically come under the master agreement. Master bargaining also reduces the likelihood that employers will refuse to bargain or seek to whittle away at unionization workplace by workplace.
Criticisms
Some union members criticize master contracts for submerging local differences, and for being undemocratic. Many critics point to master contracts which impose certain fundamental terms and conditions of employment (such as wages, fringe benefits, pensions and certain working conditions) as being nothing more than company unionism. In the United States, unions have engaged in bitter battles over such master agreements in California and Ohio.
In Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, master contracts proved so contentious that they were essentially outlawed under the 1996 WorkChoices
WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices ...
legislation and its 2005 amendments.[Murray, Jill. "Work Choices and the Radical Revision of the Public Realm of Australian Statutory Labour Law." ''Industrial Law Journal.'' December 2006.]
References
{{Authority control
Labor relations
Collective rights