House Democrats introduced a package of antitrust-related bills that would make it more difficult for employers to obtain federal approval for mergers and acquisitions based on their employment practices.
The package of bills includes:
- The Workforce Mobility Act, which would ban non-compete agreements in the workplace by establishing that these contracts violate antitrust laws and provide employees with a private right of action for alleged violations;
- The End Employer Collusion Act, which would codify existing federal guidelines prohibiting “no poach” agreements among employers;
- The Restoring and Improving Merger Enforcement Act, which would make it harder for companies to use economic efficiency arguments to justify mergers that raise competition concerns; and
- The Economic Freedom and Financial Security for Working People Act, which would clarify that an acquisition that tends to create a “monopsony” (i.e., a limited number of firms), not just a monopoly, violates antitrust law.
Why these bills matter: They are an example "of the types of legislation that we will champion in the Judiciary Committee when Democrats hold the gavel," according to Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). In the meantime, the package has little chance of moving in the current GOP-controlled Congress.
