DOJ and FTC Panel | Making Competition Work: Promoting Competition in Labor Markets

Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan speaks on a panel about collective bargaining in the gig economy at a Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission workshop on competition and labor.

The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly hosted a virtual public workshop on December 6-7, 2021, to discuss efforts to promote competitive labor markets and worker mobility. The workshop brought together lawyers, economists, academics, policy experts, labor groups, and workers, and covered recent developments at the intersection of antitrust and labor, as well as implications for efforts to protect and empower workers through competition enforcement and rulemaking.

A series of panels, presentations, and remarks addressed competition issues affecting labor markets and the welfare of workers, including:

• Labor monopsony

• The increased use of restrictive contractual clauses in labor agreements, including noncompetes and nondisclosure agreements

• Information sharing and benchmarking activity among competing employers

• The role of other federal agencies in ensuring fair competition in labor markets

• The relationship between antitrust law and collective bargaining efforts in the “gig economy”

Panelists were invited to discuss potential steps antitrust enforcers can take to better target enforcement resources, improve public guidance, and pursue a whole-of-government approach to ensuring fair competition for workers and consumers by leveraging interagency resources.

Panel: Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy

Participants:

• Sandeep Vaheesan, Open Markets Institute

• Jennifer Abruzzo, National Labor Relations Board

• Gail Levine, Mayer Brown

• Marshall Steinbaum, University of Utah

• John Taladay, Baker Botts

Moderator:

• Eric Dunn, Department of Justice

Watch the full conference via the Justice Department here.