The Hidden Cost of Cheap Labour: An Antitrust Reassessment Beyond Consumer and Labour Law

The article examines the intersection of labour issues with antitrust law, highlighting a shift fromtraditional consumerfocused perspectives. Historically, antitrust authorities have approachedissues from the vantage of consumer protection, labour law, and human rights, often overlookingthe antitrust implications of labour practices. Recently, however, there has been increased scrutinyon nonpoach and noncompete agreements, with competition authorities drawing analogiesbetween the labour market and retail markets, where workers are seen as products and companiesas colluding entities.This article advances the discussion by exploring a novel antitrust concern within the labourmarket. By analyzing recent controversies involving Dior and Armani, accused of exploitingworkers through inhumane conditions and low wages, the authors argue that labour costs, anintegral component of production costs, should also be examined under antitrust frameworks.Specifically, they propose that extremely low labour costs, which can significantly reduceproduction costs, should be scrutinized as a form of predatory pricing.The authors suggest that current antitrust laws, which do not typically address such labourpractices, should evolve to incorporate new tools to address these challenges. They drawcomparisons with European antitrust approaches to propose potential solutions for integratinglabour market concerns into traditional antitrust analyses.

Recommended Citation

Tejaswini Kaushal and Madhav Tripathi (2025) "The Hidden Cost of Cheap Labour: An Antitrust Reassessment Beyond Consumer and Labour Law", GNLU Journal of Law And Economics : Volume VIII 2025, Issue I
Available at: https://gnlu.ac.in/GJLE/Publications/The Hidden Cost of Cheap Labour: An Antitrust Reassessment Beyond Consumer and Labour Law