July 18, 2019 at 10:20 am
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 17 other Attorneys General earlier this week in urging collaboration between Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulators and state attorneys general to protect workers from anticompetitive labor practices that depress wages and limit job mobility and opportunities for advancement.
In a comment letter filed in connection with the FTC’s hearings on competition in the 21st Century, the coalition argues that the FTC should increase its focus on antitrust enforcement in labor markets and use their authority to crack down on non-compete and no-poach contract agreements-in addition to considering how workers are impacted by proposed mergers.
“In an era where wages continually decline and workers’ protections, like prevailing wage, are routinely stripped, we must begin reviving antitrust regulation in labor markets,” said Nessel. “We must do this to protect workers from harmful anticompetitive practices such as targeting low-income workers by forcing them to sign non-compete agreements and ultimately limiting their earning potential.”