The labor exemption from the antitrust laws The law of union formation involves a complex interplay of antitrust and labor law. Independent, self-employed physicians are not in an employment relationship and therefore cannot engage in collective bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act. Those that do, whether through a union or other entity, will be violating the antitrust laws and subject to significant penalties. There is a conflict between the goals of the antitrust laws and the labor laws. The purpose of the antitrust laws is to promote competition among providers of goods and services as a way to enhance consumer welfare.
Competition leads to greater diversity among products and services, better quality and lower prices.
Therefore, the antitrust laws bar combinations and other collective actions among sellers or buyers of goods and services to raise prices or otherwise set the terms of dealing. The antitrust laws are broad enough to cover human labor. Originally, federal cases found that labor was subject to the antitrust laws, and collective activities among laborers designed to raise or standardize wages or affect the terms of dealing between workers and employers were illegal. Such activities had to be expressly exempted from the antitrust laws. The exemption itself is the product of five sets of statutes and judicial case law.