US: DOJ to hold workshop on competition in labor markets

The Department of Justice will hold a public workshop on September 23, 2019, to discuss the role of antitrust enforcement in labor markets and promoting robust competition for the American worker.

The workshop will cover a variety of labor competition issues, including, among other topics: anticompetitive no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, approaches to labor market definition, the role of employer collaboration and contractual arrangements between employers on competition for workers, labor monopsony in merger enforcement, and antitrust exemptions for collective bargaining and other labor union activity.

Panelists will discuss recent developments in the law, economic research, and policy proposals, as well as how to effectively develop cases challenging labor monopsony.

Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim will open the workshop, which will bring together economists, attorneys, labor representatives, and industry experts who examine competition in labor markets and who have experience litigating or studying labor antitrust cases.