To save labor, Democrats revive idea unions dropped in 1950s: 'Sectoral bargaining'

In a sign of the importance of labor backing in the 2020 Democratic primary, several candidates have courted unions by endorsing the idea of “sectoral bargaining,” that is, collective bargaining on a large scale, involving multiple unions and companies, often covering an entire industry.

It’s a revival of an idea that fell out of favor in the late 1940s in part because of divisions within the labor movement. Many unions felt they didn’t need sectoral bargaining and could do better on their own.