Whether it is exposing legislation and regulations that benefit unions, lawyers or management at the expense of workers, detailing the folly of occupational licensing laws; supporting the expansion of state right-to-work laws; or highlighting the overreach of lawmakers, bureaucrats, and courts; CEI advances reforms in this crucial, often overlooked policy area. Our op-eds, policy papers, media appearances, coalition work, and innovative research serve as crucial counterweights to the aggressive efforts by unions and their allies to frame the policy debate.
Labor and Employment Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
NLRB seeks to revoke First Amendment for management.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week sent a warning that literally anything management says about a union organizing bid…
Marketplace
Job satisfaction up, but may be near a plateau
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in Marketplace on employment satisfaction: These days, Sean Higgins at the Competitive Enterprise Institute think tank said people are…
National Review
CA’s $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Is a Regressive Tax
California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food restaurants has turned into a regressive tax on the state’s low-income residents. People who wanted…
Search Posts
Blog
NLRB seeks to revoke First Amendment for management.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week sent a warning that literally anything management says about a union organizing bid…
Marketplace
Job satisfaction up, but may be near a plateau
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in Marketplace on employment satisfaction: These days, Sean Higgins at the Competitive Enterprise Institute think tank said people are…
National Review
CA’s $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage Is a Regressive Tax
California’s new $20 an hour minimum wage for fast food restaurants has turned into a regressive tax on the state’s low-income residents. People who wanted…
National Review
The Biden Administration Is Working Overtime to Make Work Less Flexible
The Biden administration has been putting in extra hours to quash the burgeoning trend of employment flexibility, and its latest effort is overhauling overtime rules. It may…
News Release
April adds 175,000 jobs, signaling economic stress test: CEI analysis
The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April, a significantly lower number than economists were anticipating and signaling a major economic stress test has…
The Center Square
As the U.S. adds jobs, Illinois continues to lag in unemployment numbers
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in The Center Square on worker shortages: Researcher Sean Higgins with the Competitive Enterprise Institute said despite the robust job…
New York Post
Layoffs at Tesla reveal the need for fresh ‘green’ thinking
Tens of billions of dollars in subsidies for electric vehicles. Billions more coming to subsidize charging stations. Non-stop jibberjabber about “sustainable” this and “Green New Deal” that.
Blog
Biden says his steel tariffs totally different from Trump’s, speculates uncle was eaten by cannibals
President Joe Biden vowed Wednesday that he would get tough on China’s steel dumping by tripling tariffs on imports. He argued this was totally different…
News Release
Economy adds 303,000 jobs in March, unemployment stays stable: CEI analysis
The Labor Department’s March jobs report show 303,000 jobs were added last month, with unemployment staying steady at 3.8 percent. Employers show that they…
Blog
OSHA tries to walk union officials into workplaces
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) issued a new rule Friday that will result in union organizers accompanying agency representatives during worksite inspections.
Blog
California laggin’: As Golden State minimum wage rises, so does unemployment
California has been a pioneer in raising the minimum wage for decades, consistently putting its state-wide minimum well above the federal rate. Over that same…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Gig work with Liya Palagashvili
In this week’s episode we cover how to rebuild after the Baltimore bridge collapse, legal challenges to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new…
Daily Caller
This Union Is Plotting To Take Over The Auto Industry. Can It Be Done?
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in the Daily Caller a union agenda to take over the auto industry: “Chattanooga is anybody’s guess,” Sean Higgins,…
Blog
Diversity, equity, and exclusion: How the NLRB’s double standard on job-related speech hurts workers
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is supposed to protect workers who publicly raise questions about the policies in their workplace. A few recent cases…
Comment
Comment on notice of proposed rulemaking: National Apprenticeship System Enhancements
Brent PartonPrincipal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and TrainingU.S. Department of Labor200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room N-5641Washington, D.C. 20210 Docket No. ETA-2023-0004, RIN 1205–Ac13 Dear…
Blog
Gov. Youngkin vetoes two-crew minimum bill in defiance of railroad unions
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed a slew of bills by the commonwealth legislature. One rejection in particular was well-deserved: nixing an ill-advised…
Blog
February inflation stays high, fiscal credibility remains a problem
Headline CPI inflation numbers sped up in February. Monthly inflation increased 0.3 percent in January, and 0.4 percent in February. Year-to-year inflation is 3.2…
News Release
NLRB Should Let Stand District Court Ruling On Joint Employer Rulemaking
Just days before the National Labor Relations Board’s new joint employer rule was set to go into effect, a federal judge in Texas struck down…
Blog
Beware the labor regs of March!
A new rule from the federal government meant to protect workers is set to take effect today, March 11. It will instead leave most workers…
News Release
275,000 jobs added in February, employers watching economy and new labor rules: CEI analysis
The economy added 275,000 jobs in February, but the overall unemployment rate is higher than this time last year, sitting at 3.9 percent compared…
Blog
FTC declares mergers to be union-busting
In a classic case of regulatory creep, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently asserted jurisdiction over labor unions and collective bargaining. The agency is…
Blog
What ails the working class?
Late last month I was privileged to be asked to speak at a Heritage Foundation event on the subject of the continuing travails of…
Blog
NLRB ruling on college athletes may foul foreign players
Nothing produces untended consequences like government action, and no one can say that the National Labor Relation Board’s (NLRB) isn’t producing its fare share. The…
Blog
Amazon primal: Retailer calls NLRB unconstitutional
Amazon has joined the growing chorus of businesses declaring that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may be unconstitutional. Along with SpaceX and Trader Joe’s,…
Blog
NLRB v. EEOC: Damned if you fire, damned If you don’t
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) aggressive new enforcement stance is creating a terrible bind for some businesses: if they try to avoiding penalties from…
Daily Caller
Biden Is Pushing Unions To Strike — But Not Just In The Way You Think
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in Daily Caller on union related strikes: “Inflation is likely spurring some of the strike activity,” Sean Higgins, a…
Blog
FTC commissioner wants to regulate worker misclassification, decries ‘unfair competition’
Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya has announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will get into the business of enforcing labor law. That was the…
Forbes
Convincing Voters That Less Choice Means Stronger Democracy Isn’t Easy
CEI’s Iain Murray is cited on Forbes on the Department of Labor’s new rule: In a January 26 column on the Department of Labor’s…
Washington Times
Two-thirds of hotels report staff shortages despite record wages
CEI’s Sean Higgins was cited in the Washington Times on hotel staffing shortages: However, Sean Higgins, an analyst at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
NewsTalk STL
Ryan Young on December inflation numbers heading into 2024
CEI’s Ryan Young was welcomed as a guest on NewsTalk STL regarding economy, jobs, interest rates & unemployment:…
Blog
The good and bad of Nippon Steel deal
There is good and bad in everything. This includes Nippon Steel’s planned buyup of US Steel, which politicians from both parties are criticizing. The good…
News Release
U.S. economy adds 353,000 jobs in January, employers eager to hire new workers: CEI analysis
In the first month of 2024, the U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7 percent. Employers are ready…
Blog
Businesses ask courts if the NLRB is constitutional
The National Labor Relations Board has made a point in recent years of re-examining the laws and regulations that the federal agency enforces, offering up…
The Center Square
Op-Ed: Labor Department stuck in 1930s with rule against independent contractors
The Department of Labor is stuck in the 1930s. That’s the most likely explanation for its new rule that could lead to thousands of freelancers…
Blog
Study Finds that Outlawing Work Reduces Employment
George Mason’s Mercatus Center has provided further proof that California’s AB5 law, which was intended to boost worker employment by preventing them from being misclassified…
Blog
Flight attendants try to decertify union that most never voted for
One of the underlying flaws with US labor law is that it sees workers and the unions that represent them as synonymous, rather than as…
Daily Caller
Biden Admin’s Latest Labor Rule Poised To Upend Key Sector Of The Economy
CEI’s Sean Higgins was cited in the Daily Caller on a recent labor rule: “The consequence is that it gives regulators new powers to…
Blog
Congressional Review Act vote shows cracks in joint employer rule
A vote in Congress Friday showed off the cracks in the support for the National Labor Relations Board’s new “joint employer” rule. It is…
Washington Examiner
GOP tees up effort to roll back Biden’s ‘overly broad’ joint employer rule
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited in the Washington Examiner on recent GOP efforts to roll back an ‘overly broad’ joint employer rule: Sean Higgins, a…
Citation
GOP tees up effort to roll back Biden’s ‘overly broad’ joint employer rule
CEI’s Sean Higgins is cited on the Washington Examiner about a GOP effort to rollback employer rules: Sean Higgins, a labor policy expert at the…
Blog
Power to the… regulators? That’s what new worker classification rule will do
The US Labor Department’s new worker classification rule is a major step backwards, causing trouble for worker and employer alike as they try to…
U.S. Department of Labor
Biden Labor Rule Undermines Independent Contractors
The Biden Labor Department today put out a new rule that makes it harder for workers to choose independent contractor status. Competitive Enterprise Institute…
News Release
216,000 jobs added in December, employers looking ahead to 2024: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December, slightly less than the year’s average gains. CEI experts explain why the labor market is in…
Blog
The existential threat AI poses to the Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild recently concluded a lengthy strike against Hollywood studios with a contract that included new protections for its members from artificial…
National Review
Adam Smith, a Roman Emperor, and Slavery
Adam Smith tells a story of the new Emperor Augustus and his reaction to the behavior of one of his allies, an equestrian (or “knight”) magnate…
Blog
Common sense has left the building: The push to redefine joint employer rule
The National Labor Relations Board did something earlier this year that union leaders and their allies on Capitol Hill have long demanded: It expanded…
News Release
Economy adds 199,000 jobs in November: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs in the month of November, according to newly released government data. It’s a tightening labor market, with rising…
Blog
Is UAW still an automaker union? How Gaza became a top issue
The name “United Auto Workers” would appear to pretty clearly indicate who that union represents, but it is increasingly becoming inaccurate. Today, only about…
Blog
Biden admin: Taxpayers don’t need to know about ‘official time’
The Biden administration is actively rolling back transparency requirements for unions, most recently by no longer posting information on the controversial practice of…
Duluth News Tribune
Point/Counterpoint: Technology once again is altering how, where we work
Technology is making the 40-hour workweek an outmoded tradition. Historically, the workweek concept was based on the cycle of working from sunup to sundown, stopping…
Blog
Ringside seats at today’s Senate cage match
A lot of preparation goes into testifying before a Senate committee. To borrow from the late Donald Rumsfeld, there are the “known” things that…
Letters
CEI Joins Letter on Joint Employer CRA
Dear Member of Congress, Small business needs protection. As you are aware, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued their final rule “Standard for Determining…
Testimony
Testimony before the Senate HELP Committee, November 14, 2023
Chairman Sanders, Dr. Cassidy, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Sean Higgins and I…
Citation
As more workers take to picket lines, the labor movement is having a moment
Higher wages are also driving up inflation, said Sean Higgins, a labor policy expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank. “I don’t…
The Hill
New Biden ‘Joint Employer’ regulation is a boon for unions
What if you could get in legal trouble simply because you knew somebody else who got in trouble? You didn’t do anything wrong with them.
DC Journal
Point: 40-Hour Workweek Is Under Scrutiny
Technology is making the 40-hour workweek an outmoded tradition. Historically, the workweek concept was based on the cycle of working from sunup to sundown, stopping…
Comment
Comment on notice of proposed rulemaking: Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees
Dear Ms. DeBisschop: I am an attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. I was a senior policy advisor in Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour…
Blog
NLRB responds to CEI on government ‘encouraging’ unionization
The National Labor Relations Board recently issued a rulemaking that included a direct rebuttal to an argument made by the Competitive Enterprise Institute regarding…
Comment
Comment on WHD NPRM on executive, administrative, and professional exemption
Amy DeBisschop Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room S–3502, Washington, D.C. 20210…
News Release
Economy added 150,000 jobs in October, fewer than average months: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 150,000 jobs in the month of October, fewer than in average months, according to government data released today. That suggests…
Blog
UAW strike epilogue: Big Three will continue to shrink
The United Auto Workers has won, according to the headlines. What the union has won will force three companies, Ford, GM, and Stellantis, owner…
Blog
NLRB expands ‘joint employer’ rule to include kitchen sink
The National Labor Relations Board has issued its new rule for “joint employer status.” As expected, it extends the rule for when one company…
Blog
Ford-UAW deal: Declare victory and go home
The current United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers has been more of a public relations spectacle than an actual strike. At no…
Washington Times
Supreme Court ruled public sector workers cannot be forced to pay dues; unions take them anyway
In the five years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME that public sector workers cannot be forced to pay union dues, many…
DC Journal
Counterpoint: Davis-Bacon Requires Pork Spending, Costs Taxpayers Billions
Forcing federally funded public works projects to pay the so-called prevailing wage is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The intention behind…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Going into labor with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we talk about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s legal fate, rising economic might in India, terrible federal…
Blog
As Predicted, UAW Strike Remains Limited, Spares Automakers From Full Walkout
It only took about three weeks, but mainstream journalists are becoming aware of something the Competitive Enterprise Institute has been pointing out from the start:…
News Release
Economy adds 336k jobs in September, with implications for unions, job-seekers, and Fed interest rate decisions: CEI analysis
The economy added 336,000 jobs in the month of September, according to just-released government numbers. CEI experts expect this means opportunities for labor unions,…
Blog
The year of strikes ain’t over yet
2023 has had the most major labor strikes the country has seen in decades, with likely more to come. Unions leaders are itching to do…
Blog
UAW’s Fain says new strike strategy has produced no ‘meaningful progress’
UAW President Shawn Fain announced Friday that the union would expand its strike against Ford and GM. Fain said an additional 7,000 members…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: unemployment that works with Matt Darling
In this week’s episode we talk about banning plastic gift cards in California, the solution to Germany’s energy crisis, the political…
Washington Examiner
UAW strike: What the media won’t tell you about the strike
One of the things that liberal groups, unions included, have been good at is creating a narrative and selling that to the …
Blog
UAW strike mostly a PR move
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain is making much of the fact that the union is currently engaged in its first-ever strike against three…
Blog
Will COVID-era work-from-home flexibility disappear?
The question of how many Americans are going to continue working remotely, post-COVID, is back in the news again (if, indeed, it ever left).
Blog
United Auto Workers want a bigger slice of a shrinking pie
If the United Auto Workers go on strike this week – and as I write this it appears as though they will – it…
DC Journal
Point: This Labor Day, Don’t Let Pols Take Credit for Economy
Workers have much to celebrate this Labor Day. Unemployment is near its lowest level since the 1960s, and real wages are growing again. Post-pandemic inflation…
Fox News
This Labor Day, let’s get real about how things have gotten better for workers in the USA
The nature of employment has changed in the last decade more than many people might realize. More of us work from home. More of us…
The Hill
My job, my choice: The National Labor Relations Act does not require unionization
It’s been just shy of a century since the National Labor Relations Act was signed into law, guaranteeing workers nationwide the right to bargain collectively.
Blog
An invitation for union organizers to cheat in elections
The National Labor Relations Board has issued a new rule for union organizing elections that says the election will go ahead even when there…
News Release
187,000 jobs added in August 2023, with more people trying to get back to work: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August 2023, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent, according to data released Friday by the…
Blog
Biden administration working overtime to regulate working overtime
The Biden administration issued a new rule this week that vastly expands of the number of workers covered by federal overtime rules. While some…
The Washington Examiner
10% tariff, 100% bad idea
Former President Donald Trump recently pledged to enact a universal 10% tariff on all imports if he regains the presidency. His…
National Review
How to Help Discouraged Working-Age Men
More blue-collar American men aged 25–54 than ever are no longer employed and seeking work. That sad trend started in the late 1960s, coinciding…
American Banker
Reach out to employees before unionizing becomes an issue
With labor making a bid to unionize the financial services sector, management should proceed with the utmost delicacy. The National Labor Relations Act is almost…
Blog
Work, dignity, and the common good
Many on the right (especially self-described “national conservatives”) say that there is no “dignified work” for Americans today. What they mean by this is,…
News Release
Biden Labor Department offers new rule on “prevailing wages” that is less accurate
The Biden Labor Department today announced the issuance of the final rule making changes to Davis-Bacon Act labor regulations, ostensibly aimed at helping construction…
Washington Examiner
Labor Department to issue pro-union final rule on construction worker pay: Report
Washington Examiner cites CEI’s Sean Higgins on union regulations: Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the Washington Examiner that the key…
News Release
Economy adds 187,000 jobs in July 2023: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in July, according to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not spectacular but not bad, say CEI…
Blog
What you don’t know about the Wagner Act
What stance does the National Labor Relation Act, the main federal law regarding union rights, take towards workers joining unions? A long-held article of…
Blog
The Paycheck Protection Act gives Congress a chance to defend the little guy
Freshman Missouri congressman Eric Burlison (R) has introduced legislation called the Paycheck Protection Act. The act, a project of the nonprofit American Legislative…
Study
The Forgotten History of the Wagner Act
Introduction President Joe Biden on April 26, 2021, announced the creation of a special Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The purpose of the…
News Release
Report disputes role of federal government in labor union participation, reveals forgotten purpose of the National Labor Relations Act
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report disputes claims by President Biden and others that the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) directs the federal…
Blog
Hollywood and the collateral damage of strikes
The current Hollywood strike by writers and actors has forced several others who don’t have an issue with the studios to stop working.
Blog
Teamsters’ UPS win suggests more strikes coming
Tuesday’s announcement that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS have agreed on a contract is a likely sign that strikes and other union…
Comment
Procedures for Previously Exempt State and Local Government Employee Complaints of Employment Discrimination under Section 304 of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, RIN 3046-AB09
Submitted via Regulations.gov RE: Procedures for Previously Exempt State and Local Government Employee Complaints of Employment Discrimination under Section 304 of the Government Employee Rights…
Daily Caller
SEAN HIGGINS: Hollywood Unions Are Getting A Bitter Dose Of Reality
The current strike by Hollywood writers and actors is a reactionary, rear-guard effort against changes in technology. The members of the WGA (Writers Guild of…
Blog
Actors and writers unions are fighting technological change. Expect change to win.
The current strike by Hollywood writers and actors is a reactionary, rear-guard effort against changes in technology. The members of the WGA (Writers Guild of…
Blog
The Teamsters want UPS drivers to go on strike
UPS’s drivers will likely go on strike at the end of the month. It would be a huge disruption to the broader economy – and…
News Release
Economy adds 209,000 jobs in June, fewer than expected: CEI analysis
The U.S. economy added just 209,000 jobs in June 2023, under-performing compared to expectations. CEI economy and labor experts offer analysis on what this…
Blog
Wall Street doesn’t want to come back to the office
The continuing saga of remote versus in-office work acquired a new data point recently when Bloomberg released its latest Markets Live Pulse survey, which…