Collective bargaining is something which has been given a bad name by politicians on the left and right of politics, but they rarely make it clear what problem they have with it. Conservative politicians in Australia have a agenda of preventing union collective bargaining - and they promote individual negotiation.

Yet companies bargain collectively all the time. Every time they advertise a price on television which applies to multiple stores, they are fixing prices. A major hamburger chain which fixes the price of hamburgers at all stores in the country is collectively bargaining with the public - 'here is our price, if you don't like it don't shop with us'. It is difficult to see the problem with this.

The problem arises when an individual or company no longer has a choice of who to deal with - ie monopoly.