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Companies May Scrutinize Employee Activity More under DOL’s Proposed Overtime Rule
The battle over the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule is heating up. A number of business groups, labor unions, and progressive organizations have met…
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Congress Needs to Halt DOL Regulatory Onslaught
Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) called out recent Department of Labor policies as having a “chilling effect” on the economy. Ryan’s statements were…
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Why Is Employee Involvement an Unfair Labor Practice?
U.S. labor law is largely based on the false narrative of an inequality of bargaining power between employees and employers. The theory goes that an…
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A Diverse Collection of Stakeholders Oppose the DOL’s Overtime Rule, Really
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece entitled, “Who Opposes Overtime Pay Increase, Really?” The author, Harlan Green, publisher at PopularEconomics.com, says, “That’s a…
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Give Job Seekers a Break: Get Government Out of the Licensing Business
Public policy easing union organizing is not an economic cure-all, and really wouldn’t help at all—no matter how many times union-backed politicians say so (see…
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Easing Union Organizing Won’t Fix the Economy
Most progressive policy makers view labor unions as the panacea that would address the problem of stagnate wages and disappearing middle class. A proposal to…
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NLRB Puts Stamp of Approval on Harassment in the Workplace
Around 80 years ago, Congress created the National Labor Relations Board to bring stability to labor relations in the private sector. The current iteration of…
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Union Bosses Order Verizon Workers to Strike
Today, union bosses ordered 36,000 Verizon workers on the east coast to strike. Nearly all of these employees, 99 percent, service the Verizon…
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Wisconsin Judge Rules that Workers’ Wages are Unions’ Property
On Friday, April 8, a Wisconsin judge handed unions a surprising victory—surprising because of the argument behind his decision.
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State Legislatures Can Dampen Friedrichs Ruling’s Blow to Worker Freedom
Today, the Supreme Court announced a 4 to 4 spilt decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a decision that keeps alive the Abood…
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NLRB Case against McDonald’s Shows Need for Labor Law Reform
At the beginning of the month, the National Labor Relations Board and McDonald’s trial began. The case will determine whether McDonald’s is a joint…
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The Public Pays for Union Political Activity
Taxpayer dollars in state and municipal governments across the country are, normally without public knowledge, used to subsidize government union political undertakings. Clearly, this is…
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Congress Proposes Bill to Nullify Overtime Regulation
This week, the Department of Labor took the last step before the final overtime rule is published and implemented. DOL sent the rule to…
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NLRB vs. McDonald’s: The Trial Begins
The long awaited McDonald’s trial in National Labor Relations Board joint employer case begins today. In RealClearPolicy, I discuss the less-than-transparent proceedings leading up…
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Not Much Business Sense on Capitol Hill
Members of Congress, even some Democrats, are finally coming to terms that the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule may be bad for business. Why…
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Obama Administration Policy Threatens Youth Job Opportunities
The National Labor Relations Board’s long-awaited trial involving McDonald’s will begin this week on March 10. The case puts the franchise model in the…
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Uber Publishes Core Principles to Guide Seattle’s Union Election Procedures
Uber maintains that Seattle’s recent ordinance that extends collective bargaining privileges to ridesharing drivers is illegal. However, to cover its bases, Uber issued a letter…
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NLRB Undercuts its Own Employees’ Rights
If the NLRB cannot respect the rights of its own employees, is it really capable of governing all private-sector labor relation disputes?…
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Sharing Economy in the AFL-CIO’s Crosshairs
The AFL-CIO is meeting in San Diego to shape its policy initiatives for the upcoming year. One increasingly popular type of work arrangement is…
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House Oversight Committee Demands Agencies Reveal Union Subsidy Data
On February 12, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent out letters to federal agency heads to provide more information on union “official…
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A Majority of States Now Right to Work
Today's historic vote in West Virginia means that now in a majority of states, workers can’t be fired from their job if they choose not…
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Overtime Rule Is a Threat to Workers and Small Business
By statute, Congress delegated to the Secretary of Labor “the authority to define and delimit the terms of the [overtime] exemptions.” But that doesn’t mean it…
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NLRB’s Joint Employer Ruling Challenged in Court
CEI applauds Browning-Ferris’ stand against the National Labor Relations Board's upending of employment liability and flexibility, otherwise known as the new joint employment standard. The…
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Labor Policy Developments to Watch in the New Year
Labor policy reform was a fast-moving issue during in the past year. At the federal level, labor policy became more tilted in favor of union…
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How Do We Give Workers a Fair Shot? Remove Regulatory Roadblocks
In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he echoed a theme that has been constant throughout his tenure, saying, “how do we give everyone a…
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Union Subsidy Eliminates So-Called “Free Rider” Problem
On January 11, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could provide right to work…
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Protecting American Workers and Job Creators with the Omnibus
This week, Congress is working against the clock to avert a government shutdown and pass new spending legislation before the current continuing resolution expires on…
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Official Time and Criminal Misconduct by Federal Employees
With under two weeks until Congress must pass an omnibus spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, one policy that should be on the chopping…
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NLRB Attack on McDonald’s
No one accuses the government of being responsive to the public. Whether you are a veteran seeking care or need to renew your license at…
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Republicans Should Support Rep. King’s Amendment to Prohibit Davis-Bacon Requirements
The House of Representatives is voting on the Highway Trust Fund this week. Numerous amendments have been added to the bill. One that should garner…
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House Committee Pushes Back against NLRB Assault on Small Business
Today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed H.R. 3459, the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, a bill that would restore the traditional…
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Return of the Employee Free Choice Act
Labor law has dramatically changed under the Obama administration via the pro-union National Labor Relations Board. Many longstanding Board precedents have been tossed aside in favor…
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Why Isn’t There a Joint Union Standard?
On September 29, an official and members of Boston’s Teamsters Local 25 were indicted on extortion charges, which U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz described as…
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Bill Introduced in Senate to Strip NLRB of Adjudicatory Power
On September 28, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced The Protecting American Jobs Act, S. 2084, which would relieve the National Labor Relations Board of its…
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NLRB Doubles-Down on Expanded Joint-Employer Standard
As I detailed here last week, in a case involving Browning-Ferris Industries, the National Labor Relations Board decided to greatly expand when an employer is…
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NLRB Joint Employer Decision Creates Barrier to Job Creation
In a 2010 speech, President Obama said small business “is as American as apple pie. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.” He went on…
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Missouri Can Make History with Right to Work Override Vote
Today, the Missouri legislature is scheduled to vote on overriding Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of right to work. If Republicans can muster enough votes—several…
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Workers Deserve Labor Law Reform
Unions use Labor Day as an occasion to remind workers of their past good deeds and deploy their usual rhetoric claiming to have workers’ best…
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Federal Labor Agencies Attack Workers and the Economy
Today, CEI released a report on the Obama administration’s effort to pay back its union allies by way of federal labor agencies. The National Labor Relations…
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CEI Joins Coalition to Support Right-to-Work Protections in Missouri
No individual should be forced to financially support an organization with which they disagree or risk penalty. However, in Missouri and 24 other states, private-sector…
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CEI Joins Coalition to Support Right-to-Work Protections in Missouri
No individual should be forced to financially support an organization with which they disagree or risk penalty. However, in Missouri and 24 other states, private-sector…
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Missouri Tax Dollars Finance Union Political Activity
As Thomas Jefferson wrote, the constitution created a "wall of separation between church and state." An equally impenetrable wall of separation should be erected to…
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Time to Enforce Texas Constitution’s Bar on Taxpayer Subsidies to Private Parties
Use of taxpayer funds should be reserved for purely public purposes, not the private benefit of an individual, corporation, or association. Yet, Texas public employee…
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After 80 Years, Labor Law Needs Reform
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recently penned an op-ed that celebrates the 80th anniversary of the National Labor Relations Act and praises the work of the…
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Largest Union Decertification Effort in Railway Labor Act History Underway at Allegiant Air
Last week, Allegiant Air flight attendants have filed with the National Mediation Board to decertify the Transport Workers Union. If successful, it would be largest…
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Texas: Austin and San Antonio Release Time Records
The San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) granted 4,238 release time hours in fiscal year 2012, at a cost to taxpayers $135,786. In FY 2013, release…
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Government Union Privilege Highlights Necessity to End Forced Union Dues in Public Sector
Every worker should be able to get and keep a job without being forced to pay union dues. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it…
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U.S. Supreme Court to Take on Government Union Power
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert to a case that could give all public employees right-to-work protections. If SCOTUS rules in favor of the…
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California Department of Water and Power Trusts Used as Union Slush Fund
Public resources should be used to promote public purposes, meaning tax dollars should not go toward efforts that exclusively financially assist a private entity.
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Was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s Right-to-Work Veto Influenced by UAW Campaign Contributions?
On June 4, Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon vetoed right-to-work legislation, which would end forced union dues payments, and was joined by UAW Local 249…