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“Nneka” And Why Blocking Nationwide Ban On Noncompete Agreements Is Unfortunate

“Nneka” And Why Blocking Nationwide Ban On Noncompete Agreements Is Unfortunate

The United States does a u-turn on freeing “Labour” and that is unfortunate: “In a significant legal decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) nationwide ban on noncompete agreements, which was set to take effect in September. The ruling came as a response to a lawsuit filed by the Dallas-based tax firm Ryan LLC, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and other business groups, who argued that the FTC had overstepped its authority with the proposed ban..” 

In the Igbo Nation, girls are named “Nneka” which means “mother is supreme”. There is a reason for that: if everyone fails you, and you have lost in all kingdoms, there is one place that cannot and must not fail you: your mother’s place. Simply, your mother’s place is the last place of abode. 

A federal judge in Texas has blocked a proposed rule by the Federal Trade Commission that sought to eliminate noncompete agreements. The rule, which was set to take effect Sept. 4, would have banned agreements that prevent workers from taking jobs with rival employers or starting their own competing ventures for a certain time period. The judge ruled that the FTC does not have the authority to implement such bans, saying the rule is “unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation.” It would have affected about 30 million Americans, the FTC said.

Why this? Labour, our skill, is “Nneka”, supreme in all cases, and  should be free, unbounded and unconstrained,  even as we respect property rights of companies we work for. I think the United States should honour that even as we respect intellectual property rights. It is unfortunate when someone gathers capabilities and cannot utilize the same because of a non-compete clause. You have skills and cannot use the skills to feed yourself because of a document you signed years ago!

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Good People, companies should give us certain rights and privileges when we show up at work because WE THE PEOPLE  matter today, and in the future, and not just the “hypothetical competition” which are designed to keep people down. This BLOCK should be reversed!


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