U.S. Department
of Justice
Public Workshop on Promoting Competition in Labor Markets
Washington, DC
United States
Event Details
Workshop Information
On December 6-7, 2021, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly hosted a virtual public workshop 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.
Press Release: Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission to Hold Workshop on Promoting Competition in Labor Markets (October 27, 2021)
Press Release: Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission Announce Agenda for Dec. 6 and 7 Workshop ‘Making Competition Work: Promoting Competition in Labor Markets’ (December 1, 2021)
Date and Virtual Attendance
|
December 6, 2021 December 7, 2021 |
The workshop was free and open to the public and made available as a webcast. |
Workshop Agenda
Biographies of workshop’s speakers, panelists, and moderators
Monday, December 6, 2021The following resources are also linked on the FTC's event web page:
|
|
| 10:00–10:30 a.m. |
Welcome and Introduction Jonathan Kanter, Department of Justice Lina Khan, Federal Trade Commission |
| 10:30–11:30 a.m. |
Litigating Labor Monopsony: Mergers and Unilateral Conduct Participants Rachel Brass, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Joshua Davis, University of San Francisco, School of Law Michael Kades, Washington Center for Equitable Growth Jeffrey Kessler, Winston & Strawn LLP Fiona Scott Morton, Yale School of Management Moderator Doha Mekki, Department of Justice |
| 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. |
Break for Lunch |
| 1:00–2:00 p.m. |
Labor Perspective on Competition Issues Participants Lisa Frank, SEIU Healthcare, Pennsylvania Iain Gold, International Brotherhood of Teamsters John Marshall, CFA, United Food and Commercial Workers Marka Peterson, Strategic Organizing Center Shannon Wait, Communications Workers of America Moderator Miriam Larson-Koester, Federal Trade Commission |
| 2:00–2:10 p.m. |
Break |
| 2:10–2:15 p.m. |
Videos from the Public |
| 2:15–3:30 p.m. |
Contractual Restraints That Can Impede Worker Mobility Participants Richard Cassidy, Rich Cassidy Law Terri Gerstein, Harvard Labor and Worklife Program and Economic Policy Institute Marcia Goodman, Mayer Brown Evan Starr, University of Maryland Moderators Daniel Gilman, Federal Trade Commission Michael Lipsitz, Federal Trade Commission |
Tuesday, December 7, 2021The following resources are also linked on the FTC's event web page:
|
|
| 10:00–10:05 a.m. |
Welcome and Introduction |
| 10:05–10:30 a.m. |
Morning Keynote Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor, Columbia University |
| 10:30–11:30 a.m. |
Information Sharing Among Employers: Harms, Benchmarks & Lessons from Industry Participants Laura Alexander, American Antitrust Institute Peter Carstensen, University of Wisconsin-Madison Law Joe Harrington, Wharton School of Business Doug Melamed, Stanford University Nate Miller, Georgetown McDonough School of Business Moderators Ryan Danks, Department of Justice Elena Prager, Department of Justice |
| 11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m. |
Break for Lunch |
| 12:45–1:00 p.m. |
Afternoon Keynote Tim Wu, Special Assistant to the President |
| 1:00–2:00 p.m. |
Building a “Whole-of-Government” Competition Policy Participants Sharon Block, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisors Ben Harris, Department of Treasury Raj Nayak, Department of Labor Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute Moderator Jack Mellyn, Department of Justice |
| 2:00–2:15 p.m. |
Break |
| 2:15–3:15 p.m. |
Fireside Chat: Worker Bargaining and the Antitrust Laws – 19th Century Through the Present Participants Herbert Hovenkamp, University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School Sanjukta Paul, Wayne State University Moderator Andrew Schupanitz, Department of Justice |
| 3:15–3:30 p.m. |
Break |
| 3:30–4:30 p.m. |
Collective Bargaining in the Gig Economy Participants Jennifer Abruzzo, National Labor Relations Board Gail Levine, Mayer Brown Marshall Steinbaum, University of Utah John Taladay, Baker Botts Sandeep Vaheesan, Open Markets Institute Moderator Eric Dunn, Department of Justice |
| 4:30 p.m. |
Closing Remarks Karina Lubell, Department of Justice |
December 6 VideoPublic Comment Submissions
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission invited comments from the public, on the topics covered by this workshop, through December 20, 2021. The comment period is now closed. View posted comments at Regulations.gov.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Written submissions and the identity of the submitter may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed by publication and/or posting at Regulations.gov, at the discretion of the Department of Justice. Information that is submitted in connection with this event cannot be maintained as confidential by the Department of Justice. Written submissions should not include any information that the submitting person seeks to preserve as private or confidential.
Copyrighted Material: The Department of Justice will not post copyrighted material included in comments without permission from the copyright owner(s).