Standard joke: "all our employees are above average". In the context of collective bargaining, it is not only possible but common: any halfway decent IT firm h

Standard joke: "all our employees are above average". In the context of collective bargaining, it is not only possible but common: any halfway decent IT firm has highly qualified workers paid and ranked well above a "normal" worker sharing the same national contract. Everybody earns much more than minimum wage, and someone (hopefully the high performers, but don't count on it) even more than that. Pushing low compensations against minimum wage limits is simply not plausible, and paying high performers less than market value is a recipe for talent drain. Collective bargaining is important for working hours, safety, vacation, healthcare, and other important worker rights.