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Archives

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Blog

Seattle Forced Union Dues Scheme Faces Legal Challenge

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/30/2017

In 2015, the City of Seattle enacted a misguided ordinance that allows Uber and Lyft drivers, who operate as independent contractors, the privilege to collectively…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Columnist Misrepresents Civil Service Reforms

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/29/2017

In a recent column, The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson presents a gravely distorted view of Republican civil service reform efforts, which seek to save…

Government Unions

Washington Free Beacon

Taxpayers Paid $162.5 Million for Union Work

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/28/2017

The Washington Free Beacon discusses the practice of official time with Trey Kovacs.  Trey Kovacs, a labor policy expert at the pro-free-market Competitive…

Labor and Employment

Blog

President Trump Expected to Block Blacklisting Rule

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/27/2017

Today, President Trump is expected to approve a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to repeal what is known as the Blacklisting rule. Upon signing,…

Labor and Employment

Blog

New Report: Federal Employee Union Subsidy Costs $162 million

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/27/2017

Last Friday afternoon, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its biennial report, “Official Time Usage in the Federal Government—Fiscal Year 2014.” The survey…

Government Unions

The Hill

Skinny Trump budget has fat omission: NLRB cuts

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/27/2017

President Trump has released his “skinny budget” giving a blueprint of where the administration would like to see spending and cutbacks at federal agencies.

Labor and Employment

InsideSources

Taxpayers Spend Millions Providing Unions With Free Labor

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/27/2017

InsideSources discusses the practice of official time with Trey Kovacs. Supporters argue that official time allows federal unions to properly fulfill their legal…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Mr. Acosta Goes to Washington

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/22/2017

Mr. Acosta came off as smart, accomplished, and an individual who will enforce the laws on the books, not pursue a political agenda.

Government Unions

Blog

Court Slaps Down Overreach of Federal Labor Regulators

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/20/2017

President Trump needs to fill the vacancies at the National Labor Relations Board in order to restore balance at the agency.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Trump Administration Budget Request Targets Union Slush Fund

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/16/2017

The White House budget finds savings in the Department of Labor prominently through eliminating or cutting back ineffective or duplicative training programs.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Takeaways from Browning-Ferris ‘Joint Employer’ Hearing

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/09/2017

The National Labor Relations Board’s Browning-Ferris decision upended 30 years of precedent and creates immense uncertainty. Congress needs to step in and pass legislation that…

Labor and Employment

Investor's Business Daily

Labor Reform Is Necessary To Sustain Economic Optimism, Growth

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/09/2017

Economic optimism is on the rise among small businesses and consumers alike, judging from recent surveys. The monthly Index of Small Business Optimism finds…

Labor and Employment

InsideSources

States Give Trump Administration Roadmap for Government Union Reform

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/08/2017

President Donald Trump has signaled federal workforce reform is a high priority as a means to cut wasteful spending and improve the delivery of public…

Labor and Employment

Washington Free Beacon

Senate Rescinds Obama’s Blacklist Rule

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/07/2017

The Washington Free Beacon discusses the Department of Labor’s blacklisting rule with Trey Kovacs.  Labor law experts on both sides of the union…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Senate Takes Aim at Federal Contractor ‘Blacklisting’ Rule

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/06/2017

Senators are considering a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act which would repeal the Department of Labor's "blacklisting" rule.

Labor and Employment

Washington Examiner

New DNC chair Tom Perez has record of executive overreach

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/28/2017

On Saturday, former Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Many portray Perez as the moderate pick compared to…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Veterans Affairs Employees Spent 1.1 Million Hours on Union Activities

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/21/2017

Department of Veterans Affairs employees spend over 1 million hours per year performing union activities instead of fulfilling the mission of the agency.

Government Unions

Washington Free Beacon

GOP Outraged After Discovering VA Employees Spent 1.1 Million Hours on Taxpayer-Funded Union Activities

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/21/2017

The Washington Free Beacon reports on Trey Kovacs testifying before a House subcommittee on the Department of Veterans Affairs use of official time. …

Labor and Employment

The Hill

Unlike Puzder, Acosta’s commitment to business growth is unclear

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/18/2017

During the Obama administration, Republicans in Congress criticized the Department of Labor for its pro-union activism and economically crippling government mandates that hurt worker opportunity…

Labor and Employment

News Release

CEI Comments on Trump’s Announcement of Alexander Acosta as Labor Secretary Nominee

  • Trey Kovacs
  • 02/17/2017

Earlier this week, President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination. On February 16, 2017, President Trump announced that his new Labor…

Labor and Employment

Daily Caller

Republicans Blast VA For Putting Unions Ahead Of Veterans Care

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/17/2017

The Daily Caller discusses the use of official time at the Department of Veterans Affairs with Trey Kovacs.  William Lawrence Kovacs, a labor…

Labor and Employment

Daily Caller

House GOP Could Deliver Major Blow To Federal Unions

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/17/2017

The Daily Caller reports on Trey Kovacs testifying before a House subcommittee on the Department of Veterans Affairs use of official time.  “With…

Labor and Employment

Washington Post

House Republicans launch latest hit on federal unions

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/17/2017

The Washington Post reports on a House subcommittee hearing where Trey Kovacs testified on the practice of official time at the Department of Veterans Affairs. …

Labor and Employment

Citation

VIDEO: Trey Kovacs Discusses Puzder Withdrawing Nomination on Fox Business

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/16/2017

[VIDEO::https://youtu.be/AsNXYhWHmH4::aVideoStyle]…

Labor and Employment

Comment

Testimony to Subcommittees on Use of Official time at the Department of Veterans Affairs

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/15/2017

 View full document as PDF Chairman Meadows, Chairman Arrington, Ranking Member Connolly, Ranking Member O’Rourke, and members of the committees. Thank you…

Blog

Congress: Federal Labor Board Must Be Fair to Both Employers and Workers

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/15/2017

The National Labor Relations Board has become an overly political agency that, as currently constructed, does more harm than good. It is in dire need of reform.

Labor and Employment

Fox News

Here’s why Trump’s Labor pick Andy Puzder will help grow the economy and create jobs

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/15/2017

Under the Obama administration, the Department of Labor put out numerous regulations and abrupt policy changes that increased the cost of doing business in America…

Labor and Employment

News Release

CEI Statement on Trump Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder Withdrawing His Nomination

  • Trey Kovacs
  • 02/15/2017

Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Trey Kovacs commented on the decision by President Trump’s Labor Department nominee, Andrew Puzder, to withdraw his nomination:…

Labor and Employment

InsideSources

Why Union Membership Is Down but Favorability Is Up

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/13/2017

InsideSources discusses labor union membership decline and public perceptions of labor unions with Trey Kovacs.  “I think people like the perceptions and the…

Labor and Employment

Washington Examiner

Union membership hits rock bottom

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/10/2017

Union memberships keep declining. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report on union membership found the trend has not changed. This time, it’s declined…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Worker Freedom Extends to Missouri

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/06/2017

Today, Missouri became the 28th state to enact right-to-work legislation, which prohibits forced payment of union dues as a condition of employment.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Pence Shows Interest in Scott Walker-Style Collective Bargaining Reform

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/03/2017

Recent conversations between Vice President Pence and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signal interest in collective bargaining reform for federal employees.

Government Unions

Blog

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. Employees Set Record Straight on Working for Andy Puzder

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/02/2017

This week employees of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. described their experiences working for CKE Restaurants, where Secretary of Labor-designate Andrew Puzder is CEO.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Congress Puts Dept. of Labor’s Blacklisting Rule in Crosshairs

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/01/2017

Congress is taking a first step in rolling back parts of the Obama administration’s costly red-tape put out by the Department of Labor.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Free-Market Groups Urge Senate to Confirm Labor Nominee Puzder

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/30/2017

A coalition of 17 free-market groups is urging the Senate to confirm Andrew Puzder as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Union Membership Hits Rock Bottom

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/27/2017

Union membership is on the decline, in part, because many labor unions have become reliant on government to ease union organizing rather than providing value…

Government Unions

News Release

CEI Praises Trump Pick for National Labor Relations Board

  • Trey Kovacs
  • 01/26/2017

Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Trey Kovacs praised President Trump’s pick to head the National Labor Relations Board, which is an independent federal agency…

Labor and Employment

American Legislative Exchange Council

Missouri May Become Model State for Government Union Labor Relations

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/25/2017

A right-to-work bill making its way through Missouri’s legislature is generating most of the labor-related headlines in the Show-Me state. However, government union reform legislation…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Federal Officials Should Reopen Investigations of Union Activist ‘Worker Centers’

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/23/2017

It is certainly time to reinvestigate the issue of “worker centers,” which operate outside of the traditional boundaries of labor law.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Obama’s Labor Legacy: Overreach and Overregulation

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/19/2017

In the past eight years, the Department of Labor has consistently pushed the boundaries of its authority. The agency’s overreach greatly restricted how people work,…

Labor and Employment

Blog

‘Corporate Campaign’ Deployed against Labor Secretary Nominee Puzder

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/18/2017

Democrats, labor unions, and their allies have deployed a coordinated attack against President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor nominee, Andrew Puzder.

Labor and Employment

Blog

Union Front Groups Deploy Dishonest Tactics against Nominee Puzder

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/17/2017

Pro-union activist groups are pulling out all the stops to derail the nomination of Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, to head the Department of…

Labor and Employment

Daily Caller

Labor Unions Deploy Dishonest Tactics, Paid Protesters Against Trump’s DOL Nominee

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/17/2017

The Daily Caller discusses with Trey Kovacs union-backed groups’ dishonest tactics against Department of Labor head nominee Andrew Puzder.  The dishonest tactics employed…

Labor and Employment

Blog

A Federal Gift Clause Could Help ‘Drain the Swamp’

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/11/2017

If President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are serious about coming through on the campaign promise to “drain the swamp,” it would serve them…

Business and Government

The Hill

Use Holman Rule on federal employees that work full-time for union

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/10/2017

Last week, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) resurrected a little-known procedural rule that allows lawmakers to slash a federal employee’s pay to $1. What is known…

Labor and Employment

Blog

Worker Freedom Coming in the New Year

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/29/2016

Major labor reform is on the horizon in 2017. The forecast: worker freedom may be coming to a state near you.  …

Blue Grass Policy

Big Labor’s Making Us Offers We Can Refuse

  • By: F. Vincent Vernuccio, Trey Kovacs
  • 12/17/2016

Labor and Employment

Blue Grass Policy

CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers

  • By: F. Vincent Vernuccio, Trey Kovacs
  • 12/17/2016

Labor and Employment

Blue Grass Policy

CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers

  • By: F. Vincent Vernuccio, Trey Kovacs
  • 12/17/2016

Labor and Employment

Washington Examiner

How Congress can fix labor and employment laws in 2017

  • By: Daniel Cody, Trey Kovacs
  • 12/17/2016

Reining in the top federal labor regulatory agencies should be a top priority for the new Congress. The National Labor Relations Board, created by Congress…

Labor and Employment

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