FTC Compromise on Merger Rule Hardens Partisan Labor Policy Rift

A deal inside the Federal Trade Commission that led the agency to drop labor provisions from a new merger regulation is the latest example of the sharp divide over using competition law to police issues affecting the workforce.

The final rule, released Oct. 10, nixed proposals that would have required labor-related disclosures from companies seeking to merge—part of a “compromise” among Democrats and Republicans on the five-person commission, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said.

Those disclosures “would’ve been helpful,” Slaughter, a Democrat, told reporters Oct. 16 during an event hosted by the Consumer Technology Association in Washington. “But we ...