Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced legislation to that would require the Federal Trade Commission to review mergers and take action if the mergers have reduced competition, increased prices, eliminated or outsourced jobs.
The Stopping Threats to Our Prices from (STOP) Bad Mergers Act comes after the FTC approved the 2018 purchase of Wisconsin-based Rayovac by Energizer even though the deal was expected to give Energizer 40 percent of the U.S. battery market, 60 percent of the world hearing aid battery market, and 85 percent of the total battery market.
At the time of the merger, Rayovac operated two battery manufacturing facilities in the state: one in Portage and one in Fennimore. The facilities employed more than 600 union workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In 2023, Energizer announced it would close the two former Rayovac facilities in Wisconsin and moved the work to foreign countries, or to a non-union facility in North Carolina.
“Too often when big companies consolidate, hardworking Americans pay the price. The Federal Trade Commission is supposed to protect Americans from mergers that reduce competition and lay off workers, but as we’ve seen in Wisconsin, that is not always the case,” said Senator Baldwin. “I’m introducing legislation that will crack down on companies buying up their competition, sending jobs overseas, and jacking up prices because Wisconsin workers and families deserve better. Our bill ensures that the people who provide the company value, the workers, have a seat at the table when companies are considering these mergers.”
The STOP Bad Mergers Act:
- Requires the FTC to continuously monitor previous mergers to determine if they have reduced competition, increased prices, cut wages, eliminated jobs, closed facilities, or outsourced to foreign countries. If the FTC determines a merger now violates antitrust laws, it retains the authority to take action to remedy the situation, including by requiring divestitures and breakups;
- Enhances worker input of merger review, ensuring that labor organizations receive notification of merger filings and creates opportunities for labor organizations to submit documents in favor or opposed to a proposed filing;
- Requires more information be provided to the FTC and Department of Justice to ensure they can properly evaluate the full effects of the merger on workers; and,
- Requires Government Accountability Office studies on consolidation in the manufacturing sector and the effect of worker bargaining power in labor markets.
