FTC Withdraws From Labor Pact in Antitrust Merger Enforcement

The Federal Trade Commission is backing out of a deal between a group of federal agencies to coordinate on labor issues in the review of mergers and acquisitions.

The agency said in a late Friday statement that it would withdraw from a memorandum of understanding it joined in August with the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division.

The pact called for the agencies to collaborate to obtain information from various stakeholders, and open up access to the DOL and NLRB during antitrust merger evaluations.

The FTC didn’t offer a reason for the move. The agency “will continue to closely scrutinize all issues related to mergers, including potential impacts on labor, in accordance with its merger guidelines,” it said in a statement.

The FTC didn’t immediately return a request for further comment.

Under Chair Lina Khan, the FTC has pushed to broaden antitrust regulation beyond price and efficiency into such areas as labor markets. The commission has challenged multiple mergers on theories that they will hurt workers in addition to consumers.

The labor pact, announced Aug. 28, also said the agencies would meet biannually to discuss their coordination and hold inter-agency training on labor and antitrust laws.