Usually when “cartels” are in the news, we’re hearing about El Chapo or other organized drug trafficking operations. But the word “cartel” refers to any combination of independent enterprises joining together to fix prices. The City of Seattle is trying to create ride sharing cartels. The city wants the Teamsters to represent your independent contractor ride share drivers. Really, the Teamsters.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fighting back, reminding our brothers and sisters in the Emerald City that we still have federal antitrust laws. Antitrust laws prohibit the formation of cartels to fix prices. Seattle claimed it was immune from federal antitrust laws and, at first, a federal court in Seattle agreed.

But last week, the federal Court of Appeals stepped in and confirmed that, yes, the federal antitrust laws do apply, even in the Great Northwest. Here’s the ruling.

Here’s what the stir is all about.

In late 2015, Seattle passed a law creating quasi-unions for ride share drivers. We wrote about it here. The ordinance had the city overseeing the collective bargaining processes and didn’t call these collective groups “unions.” Seattle says they’re not unions. Then Seattle picked the Teamsters Local 117 to represent the independent contractor ride share drivers. Still not a union???

The law has not yet gone into effect, and its validity is in question. If antirust laws prohibit independent contractors from colluding on pricing, how can Seattle create a process to encourage independent contractors to collude on pricing?

Last week’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confirms that federal antitrust laws do apply, even to cities that claim to have good intentions and great music.

The case now goes back to a federal court in Seattle to decide whether Seattle’s ordinance violates federal antitrust laws. I’m betting it does.

© 2018 Todd Lebowitz, posted on WhoIsMyEmployee.com, Exploring Issues of Independent Contractor Misclassification and Joint Employment. All rights reserved.