| Federal antitrust laws generally prohibit agreements that unreasonably restrain trade. However, Section 6 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 17, provides that nonprofit labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations may operate without fear that antitrust laws will be construed to make their activities illegal. According to the statute, "[t]he labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce."
Criminal penalties and private treble damage actions authorized by federal antitrust laws are substantial deterrents to anticompetitive activities. Section 6 of the Clayton Act was enacted by Congress after the Supreme Court held that a union violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 1, through a boycott of a company's hats that were produced by non-unionized employees.
Unions may not conspire with a business to achieve anticompetitive results for the business. However, to the extent that the union's activities are otherwise lawful and directed toward a legitimate union objective, the union's activities should be exempt from prosecution or private suits under the antitrust laws.
Unions also are insulated by Section 20 of the Clayton Act, 29 U.S.C.S. § 52, from injunctions in a dispute regarding terms or conditions of employment. Although contained in the Clayton Act, usually thought of as an antitrust law, the prohibition against injunctions in labor disputes is not limited to situations in which the injunction is sought to halt a claimed violation of the antitrust laws. Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |