In today’s news and commentary, California labor backs state antitrust reform, USMCA Panel finds labor rights violations in Mexican Mine, and UPS agrees to cap their driver buyout offers in their settlement with Teamsters.
On Tuesday, AB 1776 received its first hearing before the California Assembly Judiciary Committee. The bill, also known as the Competition and Opportunity in Markets for a Prosperous, Equitable and Transparent Economy (COMPETE) Act, marks a major effort to expand antitrust policy in California. It would amend the Cartwright Act, California’s principal antitrust law enacted in 1907, to target anticompetitive behavior by two or more companies, as well as cover restraints of trade by individual companies. Although the bill is framed around lowering consumer costs, it has drawn strong support from major labor organizations across California. The California Federation of Labor Unions signed on in support, emphasizing anticompetitive conduct’s impact on workers: “Under corporate dominance, workers bear a double burden. Monopolistic companies pay lower wages and raise prices for basic goods, hitting workers’ pocketbooks twice.” At a rally to launch the COMPETE Act last month, United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1428 President Mark Ramos echoed the Federation’s message: “Consolidation and a lack of competition… across all industries, enable employers to suppress workers and their wages… Consumers deserve to have more choice while still being able...
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP advises Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN) investors that the firm is investigating potential legal claims arising from alleged false statements about the company’s proj...