EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

Antitrust and protection of employees Iwona Florek Alcide De Gasperi University of Euroregional Economy Sienkiewicza 4, Józefów, 05-410 Poland e-mail: iwona.florek@wsge.edu.pl

Abstract It is often said that antitrust protects competition, not competitors. And what about employees? Is it not the employees who concentrate the burden of balancing the obligations resulting from operating in a competitive free market, however limited by certain state restrictions? The aim of the Article is to present workers’ rights and compare them with the social market economy system functioning in the EU, Poland, and other individual European countries. The author hypothesizes that employees are protected in accordance with national law and international regulations, but in a situation where enterprises compete on the market and they must have an increasingly advantageous offer, it may be at the expense of employees. Such a situation may take place especially in the case of monopsony in the labour market. Keywords: economy, employee, labour, market, protection JEL Classification: K210, K310 1. Introduction The antitrust law is somewhat in conflict with market freedom and is designed to protect the interests of the weaker parties in market relations by preventing inequalities that could destabilize the economy. Most often it will focus on legislation protecting consumer rights and such regulations are already well developed at the European level. At this point, however, it is also necessary to protect employees, who are undoubtedly the weaker party on the market. The principles of labour law derived from state constitutions, which are reflected in the acts regulating the labour law, are used for this purpose. The author will try to juxtapose the principles of labour law protecting employees as general human rights with the dysfunctional market and the situation of employer dominance. Are workers really protected from employers or from a completely free and soulless market?

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