Pattern bargaining started as a collective bargaining strategy in which unionized workers across an industry or sector attempt to bargain uniform standards in their contracts. UAW autoworkers started this practice right after World War II, and by 1955, the UAW contracts with the major automakers set the same pattern wages and had the same contract expiration date. Pattern bargaining serves an important purpose: it levels the playing field so companies compete based on the quality of their products or services not how much they pay (or don’t pay) their workers. This was the vision of Walter Reuther, who wanted to ...
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