FTC Announces That Independent Contractors Are Not Barred by Antitrust Law from Collectively Bargaining for Better Pay and Working Conditions
Today, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya announced a change in FTC policy, saying that independent contractors are not barred by federal anti-trust law from collectively seeking better pay and working conditions. Bedoya’s comments represent a shift in the FTC’s approach to the bargaining rights of independent contractors. In 2017, the FTC under the previous Administration opposed a Seattle law that would have allowed independent contractors with ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft to collectively bargain, arguing that it violated federal anti-trust law.
In his comments, Bedoya said that “Congres has made it clear that worker organizing and collective bargaining are not violations of the antitrust laws” adding that federal antitrust laws were “aimed at protecting worker organizing – not limiting it.”
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