If you are a small business, it may be beneficial for you to
join with competitors to engage in collective bargaining with a
substantial or dominant supplier in your industry. However, this
may breach the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 through
the cartel and competition provisions of the act.
Despite this, the ACCC recognises that collective bargaining by
small businesses can sometimes result in better or fairer outcomes.
As a consequence, the ACCC has provided three forms of relief which
we discuss further below.
What is Collective Bargaining?
Collective Bargaining occurs when two or more competitors form a
group to negotiate with a supplier about terms, conditions and/or
prices. For example, if your business does not have the capital to
buy enough products to qualify for a discount, joining up with
other businesses to collectively bargain with a supplier of those
goods may qualify the group for a bulk discount.
