Yesterday, August 28th, the Federal Commerce Fee (the “FTC”) and the Division of Justice Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (the “Antitrust Businesses”), along with the Division of Labor (the “DOL”) and Nationwide Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”), signed a new settlement (the Memorandum of Understanding or “MOU”) that seeks to reinforce the power of the FTC and DOJ to research the influence of mergers and acquisitions on labor markets.
The MOU offers that the DOL and NLRB will present the Antitrust Businesses with technical help, coaching, data, and information, to help with their evaluation of mergers and acquisitions. Particularly, and as highlighted within the FTC’s press launch:
- The DOL will prepare acceptable personnel from the Antitrust Businesses on the problems below their jurisdiction.
- The NLRB will prepare acceptable personnel from Antitrust Businesses on the obligation to discount in good religion, successor bargaining obligations, and unfair labor practices, amongst different subjects.
- The Antitrust Businesses and the DOL and NLRB plan to fulfill biannually to debate implementation and coordination of the actions described within the MOU.
As well as, the MOU makes clear that it dietary supplements, and doesn’t supersede, the beforehand recognized bilateral agreements between the DOL, NLRB, and the Antitrust Businesses. For instance, the FTC and DOL entered right into a Memorandum of Understanding in September 2023 concerning coordination on investigations.
Inter-agency cooperation, whereas not new, has been an indicator of the Biden Administration’s “Complete of Authorities Strategy” outlined within the 2021 Government Order on Selling Competitors within the American Economic system. As an example, the Antitrust Businesses have introduced initiatives with different federal companies within the healthcare business. Furthermore, Antitrust Businesses give attention to labor, together with the DOJ’s aggressive felony prosecution of alleged no-poach and wage-fixing agreements and FTC’s tried noncompete ban, just isn’t new.
All that mentioned, this MOU additional expands the Antitrust Businesses’ give attention to labor markets, as a result of it makes clear that the Antitrust Businesses have dedicated to utilizing not simply their sources, but additionally leveraging the sources and experience of different federal companies in carefully analyzing the influence of mergers below their evaluation on labor markets.
The company cooperation and knowledge sharing contemplated below these MOUs probably will put extra authorities eyes on employers and doubtlessly extra paperwork within the fingers of the Antitrust Businesses, which might gradual merger evaluation and result in extra civil and felony antitrust investigations. Merging events earlier than the Antitrust Businesses and people participating with the NLRB ought to concentrate on this inter-agency cooperation and beware that their paperwork and knowledge might spawn antitrust investigations.