Competitive Enterprise Institute
Competitive Enterprise Institute
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • About
  • Policy
  • Products
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • About
  • Policy
  • Products
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

Sign up below to receive the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

Sign Up

About CEI

  • Press Room
  • Team
  • Careers
  • Internships
  • Our History
  • Julian L. Simon Award Winners
  • Research Independence
  • Prometheus Society
  • Ways to Support CEI

Request a policy briefing from a CEI expert.

Learn More

All Policy Areas

  • Capitalism
    • Antitrust
    • Subsidies and Bailouts
    • Capitalism and Free Enterprise
  • Deregulation
    • Banking and Finance
    • Consumer Freedom
    • Labor and Employment
    • Regulatory Reform
    • Trade and International
  • Energy and Environment
    • Chemical Risk
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Lands and Wildlife
    • Water and Air Quality
  • Innovation
    • Healthcare
    • Tech and Telecom
    • Transportation
  • Law and Litigation
    • CEI Litigation
    • Free Speech
    • Government Transparency
    • Legal Studies
    • Property Rights
  • Government Affairs

Sign up below to receive the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

Sign Up

All Products

  • Research
    • Fast Track
    • Issue Analysis
    • OnPoint
    • Profiles in Capitalism
    • 10,000 Commandments
    • Agenda for Congress
    • Books
    • Individual Studies
  • Newsletters
    • CEI Planet
    • The Bulletin
    • The Surge
    • Great Capitalism
  • Outreach
    • Coalition Letters
    • Legal Briefs
    • Congressional Testimony
    • Regulatory Comments
  • Podcasts
    • Free the Economy
    • How The World Works

Sign up below to receive the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

Sign Up

All Events

  • Press Room
  • Team
  • Careers
  • Internships
  • Our History
  • Julian L. Simon Award Winners
  • Research Independence
  • Prometheus Society
  • Ways to Support CEI

Sign up below to receive the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

Join Us

Support CEI

  • Give Online
  • Wire Transfer
  • Estate Planning
  • Donate Crypto
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

The Open Market Blog

The Open Market Blog

Search Filters

Issue Areas

Masthead

Publisher

  • Kent Lassman

Managing Editor

  • Jeremy Lott

Assistant Managing Editor

  • Ryan Smith

Associate Editors

  • Travis Burk
  • Christine Hall
  • Scooter Schaefer

Contributors

  • Matthew Adams
  • Daren Bakst
  • Joshua Bandoch
  • John Berlau
  • Wayne Crews
  • Myron Ebell
  • Dan Greenberg
  • Sean Higgins
  • Sam Kazman
  • Marlo Lewis, Jr.
  • Ben Lieberman
  • Mario Loyola
  • Jessica Melugin
  • Richard Morrison
  • Iain Murray
  • Alex Reinauer
  • Devin Watkins
  • Stone Washington
  • Ryan Young
  • Joel Zinberg

CEI Makes the Case for Freedom Every Day

Sign up below for the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

New Mexico Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Business

Blog

New Mexico Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Business

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/15/2020

Under the practice known as union release time, public employees are allowed to conduct union business during work hours at taxpayer expense.

Year in Review 2019: Labor and Employment

Blog

Year in Review 2019: Labor and Employment

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/20/2019

The Competitive Enterprise Institute had a busy year in the labor and employment space. Much of the work focused on expanding worker freedom, ending wasteful…

Labor and Employment

National Labor Relations Board Attack on McDonald’s Finally Over

Blog

National Labor Relations Board Attack on McDonald’s Finally Over

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/13/2019

A major holdover case from the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which acted as the litigation arm of organized labor, is finally resolved. On…

Labor and Employment

How Kentucky Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Business

Blog

How Kentucky Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Business

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/11/2019

As taxpayers, we trust our locally elected officials to act as fiduciaries of our hard-earned dollars. However, it is well documented that the government frequently…

Government Unions

Labor Relations Chief Corrects Record on ‘Joint Employer’ Rule

Blog

Labor Relations Chief Corrects Record on ‘Joint Employer’ Rule

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 10/08/2019

Chairman John Ring delivered the latest salvo in response to the manufactured “scandal” at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Democrats, with help from the…

Labor and Employment

Priorities for Department of Labor’s New Secretary

Blog

Priorities for Department of Labor’s New Secretary

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 10/02/2019

On September 30th, Eugene Scalia was sworn in as the 28th Secretary of Labor. Last week, the Senate confirmed Scalia on a 53-44 vote. With…

Labor and Employment

California to Eliminate Independent Work 

Blog

California to Eliminate Independent Work 

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 09/11/2019

Late Tuesday evening, the California legislature passed controversial legislation that would codify a state Supreme Court decision, which adopted a flawed test that effectively prohibits…

Labor and Employment

Union Wish List Bill Would Harm Workers and the Economy

Blog

Union Wish List Bill Would Harm Workers and the Economy

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 08/27/2019

Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a report that analyzes the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2019 (H.R. 2474), which the…

Labor and Employment

PRO Act Undermines Employee Choice

Blog

PRO Act Undermines Employee Choice

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 08/19/2019

Democrats in Congress introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act with the state goal of strengthening union power and increasing union membership, which…

Labor and Employment

Greater Financial Transparency Could Prevent Next Union Scandal

Blog

Greater Financial Transparency Could Prevent Next Union Scandal

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 07/29/2019

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served indictments to several high level United Auto Workers (UAW) officials, some of who have already pleaded…

Labor and Employment

Long Wait for Worker Freedom Finally Ends for Airline, Rail Employees

Blog

Long Wait for Worker Freedom Finally Ends for Airline, Rail Employees

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 07/26/2019

It is a banner day for employee choice. For the first time, airline and railroad workers have a direct path to remove an unwanted union.

Aviation

‘Raise the Wage Act’ Would Reduce Family Incomes, Increases Unemployment

Blog

‘Raise the Wage Act’ Would Reduce Family Incomes, Increases Unemployment

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 07/17/2019

Democrats view raising the minimum wage as a way to show they are are better for working-class Americans than Republicans. But no matter how high government…

Labor and Employment

Priorities for New Leadership at Department of Labor

Blog

Priorities for New Leadership at Department of Labor

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 07/12/2019

There is a new sheriff in town at the Department of Labor. After Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned today from his post, President Trump announced…

Labor and Employment

State Legislatures Seek to Undermine ‘Janus’ Decision

Blog

State Legislatures Seek to Undermine ‘Janus’ Decision

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 06/27/2019

Labor unions continue to deny the First Amendment rights of public employees despite the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which ruled one…

Free Speech

Post-‘Janus’, Unions Continue Undermining Public Workers’ First Amendment Rights

Blog

Post-‘Janus’, Unions Continue Undermining Public Workers’ First Amendment Rights

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 06/24/2019

It has been nearly one year since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the First Amendment rights of public employees, but many members are still having…

Free Speech

Democrats’ Criticism of Department of Labor Overtime Rule Misguided

Blog

Democrats’ Criticism of Department of Labor Overtime Rule Misguided

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 06/13/2019

Overtime regulation has been a hot topic since the Obama administration proposed and finalized a rule that radically overhauled such requirements. Before this rule, which…

Labor and Employment

Regulators Find Uber Drivers to Be Independent Contractors

Blog

Regulators Find Uber Drivers to Be Independent Contractors

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 05/15/2019

Determining the proper legal worker classification for an individual has become an arduous task. A major reason for the difficulty is a patchwork of federal…

Labor and Employment

Hearing Discusses Boosting Union Coercive Powers

Blog

Hearing Discusses Boosting Union Coercive Powers

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 05/09/2019

Democrats in Congress are pushing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act H.R. 2474, which seeks to strip workers of long-held protections and bolster…

Labor and Employment

Trump Administration Ends Homecare Providers Dues Skim

Blog

Trump Administration Ends Homecare Providers Dues Skim

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 05/07/2019

Since 2000, state governments have diverted $1.4 billion from homecare providers and handed it to labor unions, according to the Freedom Foundation. For over a…

Health and Safety

House Democrats Introduce Union Gift Bag Bill

Blog

House Democrats Introduce Union Gift Bag Bill

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 05/03/2019

The Protecting Workers’ Right to Organize (PRO) Act puts the interests of labor unions over workers. Each provision of the bill either grants unions greater…

Labor and Employment

Two-Tier Wage System Highlights Need for Labor Reform

Blog

Two-Tier Wage System Highlights Need for Labor Reform

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 04/22/2019

Over the weekend, the eleven-day strike by more than 30,000 Stop & Shop employees ended. The grocery chain announced that it “has reached fair new…

Labor and Employment

Union Membership Post-Janus

Blog

Union Membership Post-Janus

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 04/08/2019

It has been difficult to gauge the impact of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME. In this ruling, the Supreme Court held…

Free Speech

Employers Good Deeds Punished by Administrative State

Blog

Employers Good Deeds Punished by Administrative State

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 04/05/2019

Progressives—Democratic elected officials, community organizers, and labor unions—incessantly disparage employers for failing to provide employees with a living wage, adequate time off, and quality health…

Labor and Employment

Federal Agency Seeks to Create Direct Path for Ousting Unwanted Unions

Blog

Federal Agency Seeks to Create Direct Path for Ousting Unwanted Unions

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 04/01/2019

National labor policy guarantees employees the right to form a union to promote their interests. There are clear, longstanding rules and procedures that provide a…

Labor and Employment

Union Subsidy Faces Judicial Scrutiny

Blog

Union Subsidy Faces Judicial Scrutiny

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/28/2019

“When you’re hired as a teacher, you should be teaching,” said Judge Jose L. Fuentes of the New Jersey Court of Appeals. This statement is…

Government Unions

Why National Right to Work Act Is Necessary

Blog

Why National Right to Work Act Is Necessary

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/19/2019

No worker should be compelled to join or pay dues or fees to a union just to get or keep a job. The U.S. Supreme…

Labor and Employment

Democrats Invent New Joint Employer Controversy 

Blog

Democrats Invent New Joint Employer Controversy 

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/14/2019

There is a new invented controversy involving the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rulemaking, which seeks to clarify the definition of joint employer liability…

Labor and Employment

Labor Department Issues Proposed Update to Overtime Requirements

Blog

Labor Department Issues Proposed Update to Overtime Requirements

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/08/2019

Last night, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) long-awaited proposed rule on overtime requirements was unveiled. The DOL intentionally wrote the rule to withstand legal challenge,…

Labor and Employment

Federal Labor Ruling Prohibits Unions Charging Non-Members for Lobbying

Blog

Federal Labor Ruling Prohibits Unions Charging Non-Members for Lobbying

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/07/2019

It has long been the law of the land that labor unions may only collect agency fees, or forced union dues, from non-union members to…

Labor and Employment

Florida Bill Shines Light on Union Subsidy

Blog

Florida Bill Shines Light on Union Subsidy

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 03/06/2019

Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the general public, not special interest groups. Yet, the state of Florida doles out a massive subsidy to…

Government Unions

Labor Officials Dragging Feet on Union Financial Transparency

Blog

Labor Officials Dragging Feet on Union Financial Transparency

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/28/2019

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), a division within the Department of Labor (DOL), has been generally inactive during the Trump administration, an unfortunate reality…

Labor and Employment

Unions Defend Job-Killing Regulation

Blog

Unions Defend Job-Killing Regulation

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/14/2019

A holdover Obama regulation is costing businesses billions of dollars and workers millions of job opportunities. A survey conducted by the International Franchise Association found…

Labor and Employment

Amazon under Pressure to Accept Union

Blog

Amazon under Pressure to Accept Union

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 02/06/2019

This week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Amazon employees should unionize, and that the company should welcome losing a direct line of…

Labor and Employment

Oregon Introduces Taxpayer-Funded Union Subsidy

Blog

Oregon Introduces Taxpayer-Funded Union Subsidy

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/24/2019

Earlier this week, I took a look at legislation that has been enacted to undercut the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Janus v. AFSCME.

Government Unions

In Aftermath of ‘Janus’ Decision, Blue States Push Pro-Union Bills

Blog

In Aftermath of ‘Janus’ Decision, Blue States Push Pro-Union Bills

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/22/2019

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, government unions were already devising ways to keep members and dues flowing. In a…

Government Unions

Time to Restore Traditional Joint-Employer Standard

Blog

Time to Restore Traditional Joint-Employer Standard

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/15/2019

This week the public comment period closes in regards to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) proposed rule to modify the standard for joint employment. This…

Labor and Employment

Teachers Paid to Walk Off the Job?

Blog

Teachers Paid to Walk Off the Job?

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 01/15/2019

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have broken down. UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl called…

Government Unions

Year in Review 2018: Labor and Employment

Blog

Year in Review 2018: Labor and Employment

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/20/2018

There was a mix of good and bad news in the labor and employment policy space in 2018. A tremendous gain was made in the…

Labor and Employment

New Joint Employer Rule Means More Jobs, Not Lower Wages

Blog

New Joint Employer Rule Means More Jobs, Not Lower Wages

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 12/11/2018

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is in the process of implementing a regulation that would restore the traditional standard for when a worker is…

Labor and Employment

Massachusetts Teachers Union Dues Do Not ‘Stay Local’

Blog

Massachusetts Teachers Union Dues Do Not ‘Stay Local’

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 11/15/2018

Labor unions like to promote the narrative that dues payments stay local. If you peruse union websites, a consistent message appears that reads something like this:…

Government Unions

National Labor Relations Board Member Cleared of Ethics Conflict

Blog

National Labor Relations Board Member Cleared of Ethics Conflict

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 11/13/2018

Republican appointees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have become the target of an ongoing campaign by Democrats to silence their voices and ability…

Labor and Employment

What Do the Midterms Mean for Labor and Employment?

Blog

What Do the Midterms Mean for Labor and Employment?

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 11/07/2018

The primary labor and employment statutes—National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act—have not been substantially amended for decades. A divided government is not…

Labor and Employment

AFL-CIO’s Own Workers Threaten a Strike

Blog

AFL-CIO’s Own Workers Threaten a Strike

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 11/05/2018

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka frequently lambasts companies for not “sharing the wealth” with employees. Joining a union is a surefire way to see an increase…

Labor and Employment

Labor Department Listens to Public Input on Overtime Rule

Blog

Labor Department Listens to Public Input on Overtime Rule

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 10/18/2018

Yesterday, I attended the Department of Labor’s final overtime listening session. It was an opportunity for the DOL to hear from the public on how…

Labor and Employment

Deregulation Coming from Labor Department

Blog

Deregulation Coming from Labor Department

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 10/09/2018

Deregulation is a topline goal of the current administration. Leading the pack in terms of costs savings from reducing red tape is the Department…

Labor and Employment

National Labor Relations Board Responds to Democrats’ Invented Ethics Concerns

Blog

National Labor Relations Board Responds to Democrats’ Invented Ethics Concerns

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 09/25/2018

On September 17, Sen. Warren sent a letter to the NLRB warning that it must “fully comply with federal ethics regulations during reconsideration” of whether…

Labor and Employment

New Federal Labor Directive Holds Unions Accountable to Workers

Blog

New Federal Labor Directive Holds Unions Accountable to Workers

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 09/19/2018

Last week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel’s office issued a directive that provides clarification for when field offices should pursue charges “against unions…

Labor and Employment

Elizabeth Warren Imagines Another Ethics Concern at National Labor Relations Board

Blog

Elizabeth Warren Imagines Another Ethics Concern at National Labor Relations Board

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 09/18/2018

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is attempting to undermine another case before the National Labor Relations Board. In a transparent political stunt, the senator is pushing…

Labor and Employment

CEI Seeks Communications between National Labor Relations Board and Senate Committee

Blog

CEI Seeks Communications between National Labor Relations Board and Senate Committee

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 09/17/2018

A political campaign to obstruct the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from properly administering the National Labor Relations Act is in full…

Labor and Employment

Trump Renominates Pro-Union Advocate to Labor Relations Board

Blog

Trump Renominates Pro-Union Advocate to Labor Relations Board

  • By: Trey Kovacs
  • 08/29/2018

Late last night, the White House cut a deal with Senate Democrats to renominate Mark Pearce to the National Labor Relations Board, according to…

Labor and Employment

Pagination

  1. Go to first page
  2. Select page
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. …
  13. 12
  14. Go to next page
  15. Go to last page

show entries per page:

  • 6
  • 50 Currently Selected
  • 100

Masthead

Publisher

  • Kent Lassman

Managing Editor

  • Jeremy Lott

Assistant Managing Editor

  • Ryan Smith

Associate Editors

  • Travis Burk
  • Christine Hall
  • Scooter Schaefer

Contributors

  • Matthew Adams
  • Daren Bakst
  • Joshua Bandoch
  • John Berlau
  • Wayne Crews
  • Myron Ebell
  • Dan Greenberg
  • Sean Higgins
  • Sam Kazman
  • Marlo Lewis, Jr.
  • Ben Lieberman
  • Mario Loyola
  • Jessica Melugin
  • Richard Morrison
  • Iain Murray
  • Alex Reinauer
  • Devin Watkins
  • Stone Washington
  • Ryan Young
  • Joel Zinberg

CEI Makes the Case for Freedom Every Day

Sign up below for the latest research, news, and commentary from CEI experts.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Home
  • About
  • Policy
  • News
  • Products
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Donate

Special Projects

  • Ten Thousand Commandments
  • Eye on FTC
  • Children Online Safety Tools
  • Net Neutrality 101
1310 L Street NW, 7th Floor Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-331-1010

Follow Us:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
Competitive Enterprise Institute

©2025 Competitive Enterprise Institute | Privacy Policy