While You Weren't Looking, the Biden Administration Ended Involuntary Servitude [View all]

[babylonsister]

While You Weren’t Looking, the Biden Administration Ended Involuntary Servitude
by Robert Reich | January 10, 2023 - 6:59am
— from Robert Reich's Substack

snip//

Some 30 million Americans are trapped by contracts that say if they leave their current job, they can’t take a job with a rival company or start a new business of their own. These clauses deprive workers of higher wages and better working conditions. In effect, they’re a form of involuntary servitude.

Last week, while America was fixated on Kevin McCarthy’s travails, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a sweeping new rule that would ban these non-compete agreements.

This is a big deal. The FTC estimates that such a ban could increase wages by nearly $300 billion a year (about $2,000 per worker, on average) by allowing workers to pursue better job opportunities.

Non-competes also harm the economy as a whole, depriving growing businesses of talent and experience they need to build and expand. As historian Margaret O’Mara noted (via Matt Stoller), California’s ban on non-competes was a major reason for Silicon Valley’s success.

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-reich/104649/while-you-weren-t-looking-the-biden-administration-ended-involuntary-servitude