Sectoral collective bargaining is an aim of trade unions to reach a collective agreement that covers all workers in a sector of the economy. It contrasts to enterprise bargaining where agreements cover individual firms. Generally countries with sectoral collective bargaining have higher rates of union organisation and better coverage of collective agreements than countries with enterprise bargaining. Research by the OECD, ILO and the European Commission has also linked sectoral bargaining to higher real wages, lower unemployment, fewer strikes and greater wage equality.
In the EU, countries that have sectoral collective bargaining have significantly higher rates of coverage than those with enterprise or individual workplace bargaining. Under the Adequate Wage Directive 2022 article 4, a member state with collective bargaining coverage under 80% will be required to make an "action plan" to achieve 80% coverage.
| Country | Coverage in 2015 | System |
|---|---|---|
| France | 98% | Sector |
| Belgium | 96% | Sector (and national) |
| Austria | 95% | Sector |
| Finland | 91% | Sector (and national) |
| Portugal | 89% | Sector |
| Sweden | 89% | Sector (and national) |
| Netherlands | 84% | Sector (but also enterprise) |
| Denmark | 80% | Sector (but also enterprise) |
| Italy | 80% | Sector |
| Norway | 73% | Sector (and national) |
| Spain | 69% | Sector (but also enterprise) |
| Slovenia | 65% | Sector |
| Croatia | 61% | Sector |
| Malta | 61% | Enterprise |
| Luxembourg | 59% | Sector and enterprise |
| Germany | 59% | Sector and enterprise |
| Ireland | 44% | Enterprise |
| Czech Republic | 38% | Enterprise (some sector) |
| Romania | 36% | Enterprise |
| Slovakia | 35% | Enterprise |
| Latvia | 34% | Enterprise |
| Estonia | 33% | Enterprise |
| Hungary | 31% | Enterprise (some sector) |
| Bulgaria | 29% | Enterprise |
| United Kingdom | 29% | Enterprise (some sector) |
| Poland | 18% | Enterprise |
| Greece | 10% | Enterprise |
| Lithuania | no data% | Enterprise, some sector |
In 2019, the OECD's estimates for the percentage of collective bargaining coverage was somewhat changed. Collective bargaining coverage has generally fallen across EU member states, and most substantially in Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Germany and Slovenia, though policies to raise coverage have been implemented including (1) better employer organisation, (2) tying public procurement to collective agreements—as in half of German states by 2021—and (3) encouraging more union members.
The action plans of member states were mostly submitted in December 2025, according to the Directive, and made available by the ETUC, however Spain, Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary's plans were missing.
While sectoral bargaining used to be standard in the UK, enterprise bargaining was advocated by the 1968 report of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers' Associations chaired by Lord Donovan.
Sectoral bargaining was promoted by the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, but struck down and replaced by enterprise bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. Today industries like screenwriting, hotels, and railroads still see sectoral bargaining predominate.
Australia has a mixture of federal- and state-level sectoral awards, alongside enterprise bargaining. Awards are decided by application to a government or quasi-judicial tribunal, rather than via direct bargaining. Commonwealth "Modern Awards" and Enterprise Agreements are administered by the Fair Work Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman. State awards were largely supplanted by federal ones following the Fair Work Act of 2009, those remaining are administered and arbitrated by bodies such as the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, the South Australian Employment Tribunal, and the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission.