>It’s much closer to cartel conduct, and a flagrant antitrust/competition law violation.

>While the “number of small labourers team up against large employer” narrative sounds superficially like the actions of a labour union, what this appears to be is actually a number of small businesses forming a cartel to influence the prices for their goods. Probably blatantly illegal in much of the developed world.

Aren't labor unions (especially closed shop ones) basically a cartel for labor?