In yet another call for non-compete reform, a group of unions,
nonprofits and professors have asked the Federal Trade Commission
to put an end to non-compete agreements across the United States.
The call was led by a group known as the
Open Markets Institute. It was joined by the
AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other
labor organizations, public interest groups and legal scholars. The
petition calls on the FTC to use its power to issue a federal rule
to ban the use of non-competes nationwide.
In the petition, the signatories called non-competes unjust
contracts that "deprive tens of millions of workers of the
freedom to accept a job, take new opportunities, or to start a
business in the same line of work or industry after they leave
their current job." In support of its request, the
petition cites non-competes used by Amazon to prohibit warehouse
workers from working for competitors anywhere in the U.S. for 18
months after leaving.
