Anti-trust exemption

Why freelance writers need an anti-trust exemption

The reason that freelance writers and artists need an exemption from anti-trust law is deeply rooted in American history. In the late 1800s, the largest industrial corporations—steel, oil, rail, etc.—formed trusts and cartels that fixed prices, gouged the public, drove farmers and small-businesses into bankruptcy, and put competitors out of business. Eventually, public outcry against these monopoly abuses became so loud that Teddy Roosevelt passed "anti-trust" laws that made it illegal for businesses to combine together to set rates and prices.

As it turned out, the anti-trust laws did little to protect the public from the economic power of giant corporations. Instead those companies used the anti-trust laws to prevent workers from unionizing. They defined individual workers as "businesses" who sold their labor. Therefore, the courts held, unions formed to collectively bargain over pay and working conditions were in violation of the anti-trust prohibition against businesses combining to set rates. Union officers were jailed for trying to negotiate higher pay, unions were sued into bankruptcy, and strikes were suppressed by the police and National Guard.

In 1935 FDR passed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as part of his "New Deal" reforms. The NLRA granted employees an exemption from anti-trust laws for the purpose of forming unions to bargain collectively with their employers. In other words, workers covered by the NLRA could now legally form unions and negotiate for higher pay and better working conditions without fear of anti-trust prosecution.

Unfortunately, the NLRA did not cover everyone. Freelance writers and artists are not covered by the NLRA. So for us, it is still a violation of anti-trust law for us to do many of the things for our members that other unions do as a matter of course. The purpose of the anti-trust bill we are advocating, (HR4643: "Freelance Writers Protection Act"), is to extend the NLRA's anti-trust exemption to us.

—Bruce Hartford