The CBA Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section’s Economics and Law Committee presents:

Labour Markets and Competition Policy

May 31, 2023 | 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Eastern
Online (Zoom)

The recent amendments to the Competition Act added a new criminal provision that prohibits agreements among unaffiliated employers to (a) fix, maintain, decrease or control salaries, wages or terms and conditions of employment or (b) not solicit or hire each other’s employees. At a general level, this provision, which will come into force on June 23, 2023, is intended to protect competition in labour markets. Bringing labour to the forefront of competition policy in the cartels context raises the question of whether labour ought to have a more prominent role in the merger review process as well.

To bring us up to speed and stimulate further discussion, the Economics and Law Committee has invited three speakers to discuss the challenges inherent in using competition law and its associated analytical tools for protecting labour market competition. Counsel from Canada will set the stage, introducing the changes to the Act, the guidance from the Bureau, and the uniquely Canadian issues that may arise. Counsel from the US will discuss the ongoing challenges faced by the DOJ and FTC as they face repeated losses in criminal labour collusion trials and the newly added labour dimensions in merger review. An economist will discuss the difficulties of applying the standard analytical tools in competition analysis—such as the hypothetical monopolist test for market definition—in labour markets, as well as the types of analyses we may need to add to our toolkit to deal with labour market issues.

Please join us to hear what these experts have to say!

Moderator

Lisa Stockley, Charles River Associates

Speakers

Antonio Di Domenico, Fasken

Nicholas Hill, Bates White

Duk-ki Moon, Baker McKenzie