Unions are pushing the FTC to investigate Amazon for anti-competitive practices

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

A coalition of some of the largest labor unions in the US have formally petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Amazon for anticompetitive practices. The petition, filed Thursday, is a 28-page document with nearly 150 footnotes, and it asks the FTC to conduct a study exploring Amazon’s effects on the economy and whether the structure of its sprawling empire gives it unfair advantages in the marketplace.

The collective union members total more than 5.3 million. The groups participating include the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which includes 1.4 million truck drivers and other transportation-related workers; the Communications Workers of America, a media labor union including millions of telecommunications and...

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