Washington, D.C. – In a letter released today, 15 national and New York-based organizations called on members of the New York State Legislature to pass New York Senate Bill 933, which creates a framework so that dominant firms with market power, whether on the selling, distribution, or buying side, are held accountable for abusing their power. The American Economic Liberties Project also released an explainer on the bill, breaking down key provisions and laying out why lawmakers should quickly pass the legislation.
In their letter, the signers, which include the American Economic Liberties Project, Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, Main Street Alliance, and New York Communities for Change, highlight the ways SB 933 would bolster New York’s antitrust laws and give state enforcers a powerful new tool to protect workers and small businesses. The signers also dispel the claims corporations are making to thwart SB 933 and explain how the legislation can be used to prevent monopolies from abusing their power, stop anti-competitive conduct, and keep labor markets open and fair.
“SB 933 would prohibit many of the abusive tactics dominant corporations use to harm workers and small businesses, but that are currently difficult to police under federal antitrust law, such as predatory pricing, self-preferencing, and predatory surveillance,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “It also explicitly protects workers from corporations using their power to monopolize labor markets and drive down wages. Passage would set an important precedent for other states. We urge the New York legislature to approve the bill as soon as possible and Gov. Cuomo to sign it into law.”
“SB 933 would give New York workers and small businesses important new protections from the abuses of dominant corporations,” said Zachary Learner, Organizing Director at New York Communities for Change. “With this bill, the New York legislature has a real opportunity to make our economy more fair. They should take it.”
“This legislation is a huge and important step forward in the antimonopoly movement that should serve as a model for other states and help set the pace for federal reforms of our antitrust laws,” said Alex Harman, competition policy advocate, Public Citizen.
“Corporations abuse monopsony power and invasive surveillance technologies to suppress unions and control their workers in ways that were once unimaginable. We need SB933 to not just protect workers, but the future of our democracy,” said Aly Panjwani, Policy & Advocacy Manager at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P).
“This bill adds to New York’s reputation as a national leader in combating monopoly power and safeguarding its thousands of small businesses,” said Stacy Mitchell, Co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and a founding member of Small Business Rising. “Existing antitrust laws have allowed monopolies like Amazon to engage in predatory and abusive tactics that take advantage of small, independent businesses that have no choice but to sell their products on its site. By updating and strengthening the definition of abusive behavior, this legislation goes a long way toward giving independent businesses a fair shot at competing.”
Read Economic Liberties’ explainer on the legislation, “SB 933: Protecting Workers and Small Businesses from Dominant Corporations,” here.
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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.