DOJ Wage Suppression, Job Mobility Charges Signal a New Priority
The Department of Justice Antitrust Division revealed on Jan. 28 the criminal prosecution of a conspiracy that allegedly suppressed wages and limited job mobility for essential health care workers. A federal grand jury in Portland, Maine, returned a criminal indictment charging four managers of home health care agencies with participating in a conspiracy at the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic to eliminate competition for Personal Support Specialist (PSS) workers.
Notably, the indictment appears to further several goals in President Biden's executive order on promoting competition in the American economy, which seeks to "protect workers from wage collusion," to enhance "the economic freedom to switch jobs or negotiate a higher wage," and to promote "the welfare of workers."
