Bar Buzz: Ellison leads charge against non-competes.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with 18 of his U.S. counterparts, has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to start treating employment non-compete contracts as illegal when applied to lower-wage workers.

Ellison is the lead signatory on a Nov. 15 letter sent to FTC Chair Joseph Simons. Neighboring Wisconsin AG Joshua Kaul also signed the missive.

"Using non-competes, employers have bound a wide range of workersincluding baristas, engineers, journalists, home health aides, physicians and sandwich makersand deprived them of their freedom to use their labor as they choose," the letter states.

About 30 million U.S. workersone in fivecurrently is bound by a non-compete clause, the letter states. It asks the FTC for new rules classifying non-competes as illegal and unfair methods of competition for low-wage workers.

In an interview Thursday, Ellison said the effort is a continuation of his congressional attempt to ban anti-competitive "covenants" for fast-food and retail-chain workers. His 2018 bill would have treated covenants as violating federal antitrust law. But Ellison said he couldn't even get it heard.

"I couldn't get anywhere with my bill," he said. He suggested that frustration was part for the reason he left office last year and ran for Minnesota attorney general.

"I saw some members of the attorney generals' group suing over these matters involving Jimmy John's and a few others," Ellison said. "So I thought it would be great to be in a position to really go after some of these agreements that I really am opposed to, particularly for working people."

Put simply, he said, non-competes suppress wages. In years past, Ellison said, if a fast-food restaurant wanted to retain a good employee, they'd offer a raise. Now many write contracts that block workers...