Coalition bargaining is a process where more than one employer negotiates with the union. Coalition bargaining is separate from collective bargaining, which is done with individual unions at the negotiating table. With coalition bargaining, the unions must reach a certain percentage agreement on issues to approve a change. Each union representative’s percentage is measured by the number of employees in that union. Therefore, the union with the most members will carry the largest percentage.
Some communities have chosen to used coalition bargaining to negotiate health insurance coverage for public employees. Because health care providers offer price discounts and administrative efficiencies to large purchasers in exchange for patient volume, coalitions can purchase health care services for less money than individual funds could on their own and, at the same time, maximize employee choice.
Multi-unit or Co-ordinated Bargaining
Coordinated bargaining refers to a type of bargaining in which multiple unions negotiate simultaneously at different locations to refrain from settlement until all are ready to settle on the terms almost same in substance. It is a practice in which either several employers or several unions form a committee to develop common bargaining objectives to be obtained during negotiations. It may amount to an unfair labor practice if coordination results in bargaining that ignore the distinct boundaries of separate bargaining units. An agreement in negotiations cannot be conditioned upon the terms of other units or upon settlement of other ongoing negotiations.