Kroger case tests FTC Chair Khan's bid to protect workers
Adds comments by Kroger in paragraphs 10-12
FTC argues Kroger merger would harm unionized workers' bargaining power
Policing anticompetitive conduct that affects workers is a priority for FTC Chair Khan
Experts say FTC must prove union grocery jobs are a unique labor market
By Jody Godoy
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan's initiative to use antitrust laws to protect workers is being tested at a trial that began on Monday, as the agency alleges that grocery chain Kroger's KR.N proposed merger with rival Albertsons ACI.N would crush the bargaining power of unionized workers.
Khan and her fellow antitrust enforcers in the Biden administration have sought to use antitrust laws - deployed in recent decades mostly to protect consumers against high prices - to combat what they view as anticompetitive practices squeezing workers' paychecks.
Labor has been an area of focus for Khan, a former law professor and congressional antitrust counsel, who took the reins of the agency in June 2021.
"Since stepping into the role of Chair, I have been reminded, over and over, of the ways that the FTC’s decisions deeply and directly affect the well-being of people who work for a living," Khan said at a speech at Harvard University in February.
"It's really important for her," said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School, referring to Khan. "This is the first high-profile example of them trying to go after a merger using a labor market theory."
The lawsuit alleges the merger would concentrate ownership and lead to higher grocery prices.
The new company would own more than 50% of the grocery stores in Washington state and make up just under half of grocery sales in Arizona, the attorneys general of both states have warned separately.
The FTC also argues the deal should be blocked because it decreases the ability of unions to play the two chains off each other in bargaining for wages and benefits, particularly in California and other states in the U.S. West where some Kroger and Albertsons stores are located near one another.
The United Food and Commercial Workers union has said that in Los Angeles and Orange counties, 115 of 159 Albertsons stores are located within 2 miles (3.22 km) of a Kroger, leaving them susceptible to closures if Kroger fails to keep its promise to keep stores open.
Kroger's attorney said on Monday during opening arguments in the case that the company is a "proud union shop" and would continue to honor collective bargaining agreements with Kroger and Albertsons workers after the deal.
The company has said no stores will close as a result of the merger, and that frontline employees will not lose their jobs, and that it would spend $1 billion on improving wages and benefits.
"The only winners if this merger is blocked will be larger, non-unionized retailers who will continue to fight union growth," a Kroger spokesperson said in a statement.
Kroger and Albertsons have argued in court papers that they would be allowed to jointly bargain with unions even without a merger.
"Text and precedent make clear that the antitrust laws have no place in the field of labor relations," they said.
The National Labor Relations Board weighed in last week, urging the judge overseeing the case to reject Kroger's argument that labor law prevents the FTC's claims.
Experts said that a hurdle for the FTC will be showing that union grocery store jobs form a unique labor market, and are not readily interchangeable with other grocery and retail jobs.
"The court may or may not buy that," Allensworth said.
Khan has made labor market competition a focus of her tenure, to the chagrin of some business groups who have complained the agency is going too far.
The FTC's ban on noncompete agreements was recently blocked by a court in Texas after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued over the rule.
The FTC and Justice Department last year included labor and suppliers among aspects they scrutinize in merger reviews.
The FTC has raised labor concerns in cases seeking to block acquisitions by mattress manufacturer Tempur Sealy International TPX.N and luxury handbag purveyor Tapestry TPR.N.
While the Kroger acquisition is the first merger case to go to trial over effects on unionized labor, experts said it builds on other cases.
The Justice Department, states and private plaintiffs have successfully used antitrust laws to challenge restrictions on college athletes, and the Justice Department blocked the Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster merger over concerns it would lower contract rates for authors.
Claire Kelloway, of the anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute, said while the Kroger case could be decided on grocery prices alone, any ruling on the FTC's labor claims could boost further efforts to challenge mergers over adverse effects on workers.
"It would definitely open up a lot of new potential areas for thinking about how mergers harm labor markets," she said.
Surging grocery prices in focus as US tries to stop Kroger deal https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-ftcs-bid-block-kroger-albertsons-merger-heads-trial-2024-08-26/
Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York
Editing by Matthew Lewis
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تازہ ترين خبريں
دستبرداری: XM Group کے ادارے ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت تک صرف عملدرآمد کی خدمت اور رسائی مہیا کرتے ہیں، کسی شخص کو ویب سائٹ پر یا اس کے ذریعے دستیاب کانٹینٹ کو دیکھنے اور/یا استعمال کرنے کی اجازت دیتا ہے، اس پر تبدیل یا توسیع کا ارادہ نہیں ہے ، اور نہ ہی یہ تبدیل ہوتا ہے یا اس پر وسعت کریں۔ اس طرح کی رسائی اور استعمال ہمیشہ مشروط ہوتا ہے: (i) شرائط و ضوابط؛ (ii) خطرہ انتباہات؛ اور (iii) مکمل دستبرداری۔ لہذا اس طرح کے مواد کو عام معلومات سے زیادہ کے طور پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ خاص طور پر، براہ کرم آگاہ رہیں کہ ہماری آن لائن تجارت کی سہولت کے مندرجات نہ تو کوئی درخواست ہے، اور نہ ہی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں کوئی لین دین داخل کرنے کی پیش کش ہے۔ کسی بھی فنانشل مارکیٹ میں تجارت میں آپ کے سرمائے کے لئے ایک خاص سطح کا خطرہ ہوتا ہے۔
ہماری آن لائن تجارتی سہولت پر شائع ہونے والے تمام مٹیریل کا مقصد صرف تعلیمی/معلوماتی مقاصد کے لئے ہے، اور اس میں شامل نہیں ہے — اور نہ ہی اسے فنانشل، سرمایہ کاری ٹیکس یا تجارتی مشورے اور سفارشات؛ یا ہماری تجارتی قیمتوں کا ریکارڈ؛ یا کسی بھی فنانشل انسٹرومنٹ میں لین دین کی پیشکش؛ یا اسکے لئے مانگ؛ یا غیر متنازعہ مالی تشہیرات پر مشتمل سمجھا جانا چاہئے۔
کوئی تھرڈ پارٹی کانٹینٹ، نیز XM کے ذریعہ تیار کردہ کانٹینٹ، جیسے: راۓ، خبریں، تحقیق، تجزیہ، قیمتیں اور دیگر معلومات یا اس ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل تھرڈ پارٹی کے سائٹس کے لنکس کو "جیسے ہے" کی بنیاد پر فراہم کیا جاتا ہے، عام مارکیٹ کی تفسیر کے طور پر، اور سرمایہ کاری کے مشورے کو تشکیل نہ دیں۔ اس حد تک کہ کسی بھی کانٹینٹ کو سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیقات کے طور پر سمجھا جاتا ہے، آپ کو نوٹ کرنا اور قبول کرنا ہوگا کہ یہ کانٹینٹ سرمایہ کاری کی تحقیق کی آزادی کو فروغ دینے کے لئے ڈیزائن کردہ قانونی تقاضوں کے مطابق نہیں ہے اور تیار نہیں کیا گیا ہے، اسی طرح، اس پر غور کیا جائے گا بطور متعلقہ قوانین اور ضوابط کے تحت مارکیٹنگ مواصلات۔ براہ کرم یقینی بنائیں کہ آپ غیر آزاد سرمایہ کاری سے متعلق ہماری اطلاع کو پڑھ اور سمجھ چکے ہیں۔ مذکورہ بالا معلومات کے بارے میں تحقیق اور رسک وارننگ ، جس تک رسائی یہاں حاصل کی جا سکتی ہے۔
