Competition Law and Worker Voice: Competition Law Impediments to Collective Bargaining in Australia and the European Union

This chapter examines the potential threat posed to collective bargaining from competition laws designed to prevent anti-competitive conduct by business actors. As increasing numbers of workers are engaged under contractual arrangements more closely resembling those which exist between businesses or undertakings (irrespective of the economic or practical reality of the relationships), it becomes more likely that their collective arrangements will come under scrutiny from competition law. Specifically, this chapter considers labour market exemptions from competition law in Australia and the European Union. These exemptions operate as the dividing line between labour law and competition law, and their scope ultimately determines which workers may engage in collective bargaining without potentially breaching competition laws. The continued existence, scope and strength of the exemptions is, accordingly, a crucial element in ensuring access to collective bargaining for workers, enabling their collective voice to be heard.