Baldwin Introduces Bill to Crack Down on Mergers that Result in Higher Prices and Fewer American Jobs

Wisconsin senator Tammy Baldwin quoted Open Markets Institute’s legal director Sandeep Vaheesan in a press release her STOP Bad Mergers Act, which she recently introduced to crack down on mergers that result in higher prices and fewer American jobs.

“Her STOP Bad Mergers Act would help identify mergers and acquisitions that have harmed labor and empower working people and their unions to participate in the merger review process and to share their industry and market knowledge with the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission,” Vaheesan said. 

Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced new legislation to protect Americans from layoffs and price hikes resulting from corporate mergers that significantly reduce competition, close American facilities, and outsource jobs. The Stopping Threats to Our Prices from (STOP) Bad Mergers Act comes after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved the 2018 purchase of Wisconsin-based Rayovac by Energizer, which resulted in severely reduced competition in the battery marketplace, higher prices for consumers, and hundreds of layoffs for Wisconsin workers.

“Too often when big companies consolidate, hardworking Americans pay the price. The Federal Trade Commission is supposed to protect Americans from mergers that reduce competition and lay off workers, but as we’ve seen in Wisconsin, that is not always the case,” said Senator Baldwin. “I’m introducing legislation that will crack down on companies buying up their competition, sending jobs overseas, and jacking up prices because Wisconsin workers and families deserve better. Our bill ensures that the people who provide the company value, the workers, have a seat at the table when companies are considering these mergers.”

In 2018, Energizer purchased Wisconsin-based battery company Rayovac. President Trump’s FTC approved the merger with unusual speed, even though the deal was expected to give Energizer 40 percent of the U.S. battery market, 60 percent of the world hearing aid battery market, and 85 percent of the total battery market. The resulting battery duopoly in the U.S. led to significant price increases for consumers.

At the time of the merger, Rayovac operated two battery manufacturing facilities in the state: one in Portage and one in Fennimore. These facilities provided over 600 Wisconsin workers good union wages for decades because both manufacturing plants were represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. But in 2023, Energizer announced it would be closing the two former Rayovac facilities in Wisconsin and moving the work to foreign countries, or to a non-union facility in North Carolina.

Senator Baldwin criticized the Trump-era decision and raised concerns about the planned closures in a hearing with Teamsters’ President Sean O’Brien shortly after the announcement. Last year, she demanded answers from the FTC on why they allowed the merger to go through with such little scrutiny and called on the commission to investigate and conduct a retrospective analysis.

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