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
The Daily Signal
How Many Biden Appointees ‘Burrowed in’ to the Permanent Bureaucracy?
The Daily Signal cited CEI’s expert on political career placements Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, also highlighted the threat of…
News Release
April adds 177,000 jobs to economy, tariff policies yet to majorly shakeup labor market: CEI analysis
The job numbers for April show 177,000 jobs were added to the economy, with the unemployment rate staying steady at 4.2 percent. While job growth…
Blog
CEI suggests DOT put the brakes on train two-person crew rule
The Transportation Department recently asked the public for comments on how to reduce the regulatory burden. One thought that the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)…
Search Posts
Blog
Federal Employee Unions Hamstring Government Reorganization Efforts
President Trump has said that “billions and billions of dollars are being wasted on activities that are not delivering results for hardworking American taxpayers.” The inspection…
Blog
A Highly-Skilled Opportunity for Trump on Immigration
If the president wants to make America great again, he should call for an expansion of high-skilled immigration to improve the competitiveness of U.S. companies,…
Tribune-Review
Forced Union Fees: Fairness Where It’s Due
Tribune quoted CEI on the point in which union fees used to fund national conventions is an inherently political activity. In what portends…
Law360
Trump’s First Year: Labor And Employment Report Card
Law360 discusses the Trump administration’s labor policy with Trey Kovacs. Saturday marked one year since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the past 365 days…
Blog
7 Congressional Efforts the President Should Urge Members to Support
President Trump should use his State of the Union address to encourage members of Congress to pass these 7 bills immediately.
Watchdog
Labor Analyst: Members-Only Unions Would Be Answer in World Without Forced Dues
Watchdog covers the release of CEI’s latest publication, “Supreme Court Can Strike a Victory for Worker Freedom in Janus Case.” A free-market public…
Reason
The Supreme Court’s Big Public Sector Union Case Is Really About Free Speech
Reason covers Janus v. AFSCME. Mark Janus did not vote to join a union, and he does not support the union that he was forced…
InsideSources
How Member-Only Unions Could Solve the Free-Rider Problem
InsideSources covers the release of CEI’s latest report “Supreme Court Can Strike a Victory for Worker Freedom in Janus Case.” The U.S. Supreme…
Blog
Stop Forcing Unions on Workers
Workers should have the right to speak for themselves at their workplace and decide how to spend their hard earned wages.
News Release
Report: Supreme Court Janus Case Could Stop Forced Union Dues, But States Need Change to Members-Only Unions
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral argument in a lawsuit challenging forced union dues for public-sector workers, Janus v AFSCME Council 31,…
Study
Supreme Court Can Strike a Victory for Worker Freedom in Janus Case
View Full Document as PDF Mark Janus is a state child support specialist in Illinois. He works to ensure that children receive…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Opposing Contractor Nexus Tax Grab in Massachusetts
View Full Document as PDF Dear Mr. Harding: We, the undersigned, write in opposition to the “Proposed Update – 12/19/17” 830 CMR…
Blog
Prohibit Union Official Time during Potential Government Shutdown
Under OPM policy, exempt federal employees who work during a shutdown “serving as union officials may continue to be granted official time to the same…
InsideSources
Ending the Federal Labor Policy Swing
InsideSources discusses the National Labor Relations Board with Trey Kovacs. Former President Barack Obama was accused by critics of unilaterally implementing an extensive labor…
Blog
End of ‘California Rule’ Can Open Path for Pension Reform
Ending the 'California Rule' won’t mean that pension reform will become easy—union opposition will remain as fierce as today—but it’s a needed start.
Fox Business
Minimum Wage Hikes Sending Restaurants the Way of the Shopping Mall?
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. Eighteen states raised their minimum wages at the start of 2018, but increasing labor…
Blog
The Dangerous Posturing of New York’s Fossil Fuel Pension Divestment
New Yorkers should be wary of Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision to divest fossil fuel energy stocks from the city's public employee pension plan.
Blog
Right to Work Laws Protect Workers from Union Corruption
Widespread union corruption is just another reason why states should adopt right-to-work laws and free workers from forced union dues requirements.
Fox Business
Red Robin Eliminates Bus Boys as Restaurants Combat Minimum Wage Hikes
Fox Business discusses minimum wage hikes with Iain Murray. At the beginning of January, minimum wage increases took effect in 18 states and…
Blog
New Evidence on the Effects of Teacher Unions
At a time when minimum wage laws are causing opportunities for unskilled young people to disappear, it is all the more vital that education provides…
Blog
Tax Reform Delivers Another Blow to Union-Funded ‘Fight for $15’
Tax reform has produced results that have largely eluded the union-funded movement to raise the wages of workers across the country.
InsideSources
The Merciless Death of Obama’s Workforce Legacy
InsideSources discusses changes to labor policy with Trey Kovacs. Former President Barack Obama oversaw significant changes to employment policies during his time in office,…
Blog
Top 5 Changes in Labor Policy to Look for in 2018
In 2018, expect a hard push by Congress to cement the traditional joint employer standard into law.
Blog
Pension Bailout Bill Would Put Taxpayers on the Hook for Billions
Policymakers can help underfunded pension plans meet their payout obligations without bailouts.
Blog
NLRB Restores Commonsense Joint Employer Standard
During the past eight years, the Obama National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) tilted labor-management relation precedent far in favor of labor unions. This came in…
The Washington Times
NLRB Reverses Obama-era Ruling on Employers’ Liability for Subcontractors
The Washington Times covers the National Labro Relations Board’s reversal of the joint employer standard. The National Labor Relations Board reversed an Obama-era ruling Thursday…
News Release
CEI Praises NLRB Decision to Reverse Course on Harmful Joint Employer Liability
Today the National Labor Relations Board, in a 3-to-2 decision, overturned its Obama-era ruling in the board’s own case against waste management company Browning-Ferris Industries. The…
The Washington Examiner
Democrats Seek to Hobble Republican-led Labor Board
The Washington Examiner discusses an attemt to hobble the National Labor Relation Board’s pro-worker agenda with Trey Kovacs. Democrats led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth…
Watchdog News
More Briefs Filed with SCOTUS in Forced Union Dues Case
Watchdog News covers CEI’s amicus brief in Janus v. AFSCME. Three more briefs were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court this week in support…
Politico
CEI to File Janus Brief
Politico’s Morning Shift covers CEI’s amicus brief in Janus v. AFSCME. The Competitive Enterprise Institute will file an amicus brief this morning in …
InsideSources
A Case for Banning Forced Union Dues
InsideSources covers CEI’s amicus brief in Janus v. AFSCME. The U.S. Supreme Court should outlaw forced union dues in the public-sector when it hears…
Blog
Forced Union Dues Fund Labor Union Politics
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) submitted a brief in Janus v AFSCME, Council 31, a case before the United States Supreme Court. The question at…
Blog
Labor Department Should Delay Overtime Rulemaking Pending Report
Trey Kovacs suggests a way to improve the Department of Labor's evidence-based policy making.
Comment
Comments to the Department of Labor on the 2018 Draft Strategic Plan
View Full Document as PDF Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Draft Strategic Plan for…
Blog
Brief Filed to Supreme Court in Forced Union Dues Case
No worker should be forced to fund an organization they do not wish to support.
Blog
What to Expect from the Department of Labor
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has made a much needed course correction at the Department of Labor (DOL). During the past administration, federal regulators consistently issued…
Townhall
Democrats’ ‘A Better Deal’ Revised to Help Unions Wield More Power
Democratic leadership made one huge gaffe when they released “A Better Deal,” a new economic plan aimed at building a strong economy. They forgot to…
InsideSources
Business Community Makes Final Push to End Obama-Era Franchise Rule
InsideSources covers the passage of the Save Local Business Act. The business community is ramping up its efforts to underscore the dangers of a…
The Washington Free Beacon
Congress Stands Up for Ronald (McDonald)
The Washington Free Beacon covers the passage of the Save Local Business Act. The House of Representatives passed a bill that could roll back…
News Release
House Passes Save Local Business Act
The House today passed the Save Local Business Act, which would protect small businesses and jobs nationwide. Passed by 242 to 181 margin, the bill would…
The Hill
Congress Must Stop Union Scheme Siphoning Funds from Medicaid
Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund care to the elderly and disabled, not fund labor unions. But powerful labor unions like the Service Employee International Union…
News Release
Save Our Local Business Act Up for House Vote
The House is expected to vote Tuesday, November 7 on a bill to restore a longstanding federal rule that businesses relied on in their dealings…
Blog
A New Day in Labor-Management Relations
While it is important for the NLRB to restore longstanding precedent that was upended, Congress needs to pass legislation that ensures worker freedom and relieves…
Blog
Ghouls and Goblins and Guidances
You could consider CEI to be the Ghostbusters of Washington, fighting back ghouls and goblins on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Blog
How Government Unions Plan to Keep Members and Dues Flowing After Janus
Government unions are preparing for a world where they can no longer force non-members to pay dues in the public sector. That is because a…
U.S. News and World Report
The High Cost of a Bad Overtime Rule
Former Department of Labor Wage and Hour Administrator David Weil urges Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to defend an Obama era overtime regulation in a recent…
Blog
Illinois Outlaws Local Worker Freedom Laws
Employers in Illinois really didn’t need another reason to bypass or move out of the state, but the legislature gave them one. On October 24,…
Blog
Time to Eliminate Hidden Taxpayer Support of Union Activities
Tax dollars should exclusively support the public’s business. But a Mackinac Center for Public Policy open records request show this is not the case in…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Urging Repeal of Expanded Davis-Bacon Act
View Full Document as PDF Dear Secretary Acosta: As the Department of Labor implements Executive Order 13771, “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory…
Intercollegiate Review
Licensed to Death: How One Reform Could Empower Americans and Boost Our Economy
Economic freedom—the ability of individuals to exchange voluntarily without government interference—is the greatest driver of prosperity the world has ever seen. Over the past three…
