Also lost is the competitive pressure on the individual employer and union to settle for fear of losing market share to others within the industry. Employers, unlike employees, are generally not individuals. As soon as legislation groups employers together, there is the risk that one group of employers may force decisions on other employers against their will and against their best economic interests. In essence, choices they would make as a free competitor in the market place become distorted by the choices forced upon them by the majority views of their competitors. If multi-employer bargaining stretches across several industries, a further issue arises.
Different industries operate in different competitive environments.
They must set wages and working conditions as a multi-industry group. The potential then exists that the costs may be higher than one industry can bear, and yet lower than another industry could absorb. Individual employers could try to work this question out within their association. But, once again, their ability to do so is not based on market forces or their competitive position. Instead it is based on their relative influence within the structures in the association's constitution or on the terms of the statute allowing multi-employer bargaining.