Abstract
Since 1890, the architects of American antitrust law made clear that they aimed to protect labor market competition against the abuses of concentrated capital. Yet antitrust enforcers have only recently begun to challenge mergers based on their impact on labor markets, and only last year issued formal guidelines to publicize how law enforcement should analyze the labor market effects of such combinations. Comparing the conditions of modern-day meatpacking workers to those of the early twentieth century Beef Trust, the authors underscore the human cost of labor monopsony, and stress the importance of challenging mergers that allow corporations to "command the price of labor without fear of strikes." They further argue that, while antitrust law is complex, existing law offers a range of tools to challenge mergers on the basis of clear, readily observable evidence, including direct evidence of on-the-ground working conditions.
First Page
1
Recommended Citation
Alvaro
M.
Bedoya,
&
Catherine
M.
Sanchez,
“Commanding the Price of Labor”: Confronting the Human Cost of Labor Monopsony,
56
Loy. U. Chi. L. J.
1
().
Available at:
https://lawecommons.luc.edu/luclj/vol56/iss1/3