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
Congresswoman Chavez-DeRemer is not qualified to be Labor Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump is considering Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) for the position of…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Commentary: Automation could be a problem in retail theft
Headed into the holiday season, the retail industry is wrangling with a surge in shoplifting and possible solutions to prevent theft. The upsurge may be an…
Blog
Biden overtime rule overruled
A Texas court last week threw out the Biden’s administration’s attempt to rewrite the rules for overtime. The court said that the Department of Labor…
Search Posts
Blog
State of the Union: President Gets Minimum Wage and Gender Pay Gap Wrong
President Obama surprised few in his State of the Union address, which was dominated by egalitarian and populist themes. The president is entitled to his…
Blog
State of the Union: Economic Band-Aids for Poverty and Unemployment
One of progressivism’s most admirable traits is its concern for the little guy. But many progressive policies for alleviating poverty, unemployment, and other social problems…
Blog
CEI Experts on the State of the Union
ECONOMIC MOBILITY Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy: “The fact is: Today’s America is divided between those who work…
Blog
Idaho Constitution: Tax Dollars to Private Entities Is Illegal
Year in and year out, Idaho lawmakers’ inaction keeps in place wasteful practices that funnel tax dollars to special interest groups.
Blog
Federal Government Underreporting Union Official Time
In a recent FedSmith.com article, author Robert Dietriech gives three reasons why union official time data collected by the federal government understates the extent of…
Blog
Pennsylvania Bill Challenges Union Privilege
Pennsylvania government unions are spreading misinformation about a bill that would end the practice of public employers deducting union dues from members' paychecks.
Blog
OSHA Injury and Illness Name-and-Shame Rule
Under the guise of improving safety in the workplace, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a proposed rule called, "Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries…
Blog
Reforming Air Traffic Control Is Key to the Future Health of American Aviation
When we travel by air, the hassles of getting through airport security and delayed flights tend to weigh most on our minds. Few of us…
Blog
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Seem Skeptical of Obama’s NLRB Recess Appointments
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning. Their ruling will determine whether the president may…
Blog
Unemployment Insurance: Congressional Scorecard Update
On January 7, the Senate voted to end debate on the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act S. 1845, sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (RI-D), which…
Blog
Loss of Economic Freedom Takes a Toll on Small Businesses
The 2014 edition of the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is set for release next week, and for America, the news…
Blog
Fate of Homecare Providers Rests in the hands of U.S. Supreme Court
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments for Harris v. Quinn. A case that will determine whether a state can force…
Blog
With Declining Membership, Wisconsin Teachers Unions Consider Merger
The the corporate world, mergers are generally considered a sign of confidence, as companies seek to expand their operations. Within organized labor, by contrast, they're…
Blog
Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 3: Paycheck Protection
In the first installment of “Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act,” the topic was secret-ballot elections and how a private vote in a union…
News Release
CEI Will Score Senate Labor Vote Today
Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2014 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will score today’s vote in the U.S. Senate on the motion to proceed to…
Blog
Extending benefits would do more harm
Unemployment insurance extensions in the past five years have kept at least 600,000 people out of the labor force, because people tend to ride a…
Blog
CEI Podcast for January 2, 2014: Rethinking Unemployment Insurance
With unemployment still painfully high more than five years after the financial crisis, Senior Fellow in Labor Policy Aloysius Hogan thinks that re-extending unemployment insurance…
Blog
The Great Italian Auto Bailout — Courtesy of U.S. Taxpayers
At the beginning of 2014, Detroit may be bankrupt, but they're cheering the five-year-old U.S. auto bailout in Italy. That's because after being the beneficiary…
Blog
Union Spending against Right-to-Work Efforts
According to an Associated Press report, several states are eyeing labor law reforms to end the practice of forcing employees to pay union dues as…
Blog
Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 2: Union Recertification
In Part 1 of "Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act," the focus was on the ERA provision that mandates secret-ballot elections and how a…
Blog
BLS Data: Government Workers Miss Work 50 Percent More than Private Sector Workers
A blog post at buyhappiness.net cites recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data and reports that in 2012…
Blog
Why Workers Deserve the Employee Rights Act, Part 1: Secret Ballot Elections
In November, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Representative Tom Price (R-Ga.) introduced the Employee Rights Act, a bill that strengthens federal labor law to protect…
Blog
NLRB General Counsel: Guidance on Micro-Unions is Coming
Last Friday, at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Manhattan, the National Labor Relations Board general counsel Richard Griffin said the Board…
Blog
Minimum Wage Increases Harm the Young, Unskilled, and Less Educated
Minimum wage increases eliminate some jobs. Real world examples abound. As a business owner explains: The minimum wage kills jobs. End of story. I am…
Blog
GOVERNMENT UNIONS BROKE – AND NOW MUST FIX – DETROIT
Government unions broke Detroit. And unions – over their most stringent objections – are going to play a significant part in fixing it.
Blog
NLRB Ambush Elections Coming Soon
Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board's savvy legal maneuver takes the labor agency one step closer to finalizing its ambush election regulation.
Washington Post
How Australia’s minimum wage differs from America’s (Letter)
Eugene Robinson [“An issue Democrats can win on,” op-ed, Dec. 7] argued that America’s minimum wage should be increased in part because it is lower…
Blog
Busybodies in Congress Prepared to Re-Prohibit Voice Communications During Flight
After two decades with a ban on the books, the Federal Communications Commission is set to consider allowing transmitting mobile devices on aircraft. On…
Human Events
Government unions broke – and now must fix – Detroit
Government unions broke Detroit. And unions – over their most stringent objections – are going to play a significant part in fixing it. U.S. Bankruptcy…
Blog
President Pushes Welfare Rather than Opportunity and Social Mobility in Speech about Inequality
"President Obama on Wednesday declared that addressing income inequality would be the focus of 'all' of the White House’s efforts 'for the rest of…
Blog
Union Release Time on the Ropes
Over two years ago, 16 NYPD officers were charged in a widespread ticket-fixing scam. And the criminal cases against the officers are still ongoing.
Blog
Labor Agencies’ Regulatory Agendas
As my colleague Wayne Crews comments in Forbes, the Obama administration tends to publish its regulatory agenda around holidays, or when "nobody is looking."…
News Release
Judge Upbraids Public-Sector Unions’ Refusal To Work To Clean Up The Mess They Made
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 – A federal bankruptcy judge ruled Tuesday that Detroit was eligible to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which means all of the city’s…
Human Events
UAW chief’s legacy to be decided in South
The Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute even put a message on a billboard near the factory in June that said: “Auto unions ate Detroit. Next meal…
Blog
AT THANKSGIVING, BIG GROCERY & BIG LABOR ATTACK COMPETITOR WAL-MART
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who will visit a Wal-Mart on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, don’t be surprised if…
Human Events
At Thanksgiving, Big Grocery & Big Labor Attack Wal-Mart
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who will visit a Wal-Mart on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, don’t be surprised if…
Blog
Unions’ Taxpayer Subsidized Activity
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. But in Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County…
Real Clear Policy
Unions’ Taxpayer Subsidized Activity
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. But in Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County…
Blog
Dumbest Reason to Be Skeptical of Autonomous Vehicles: They Might Cost Auto Mechanics Their Jobs
Today, the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on “How Autonomous Vehicles Will Shape the Future…
Blog
NLRB Considers Proposing Ambush Election Rule…Again
Finally, after a decade, the National Labor Relations Board is fully staffed with five Senate-confirmed members.
Blog
New Committee to Investigate Michigan Teachers Union Right to Work Violations
Although Michigan's right-to-work legislation took effect in March of this year, teachers have raised concerns that unions are using strong-arm tactics that prohibit them from…
News Release
On Right-To-Work Amendment: ‘Bravo for Senators from Kentucky and Mississippi … Shame on Sen. Reid’
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 – Though their effort did not meet with success, U.S. Senators from Kentucky and Mississippi deserve thanks for their efforts to offer…
Human Events
I Don’t Hate the Government; Its Unions Are a Different Story
As a libertarian I am often asked why I “hate” the government. “Hate” is a strong word, so I’ll leave the question’s key assumption for…
Blog
Obama Administration Rule Exempts Big Labor from Obamacare Tax
In September, the Obama administration rejected union demands for subsidies offered under Obamacare, which are reserved for the uninsured and low-income workers.
Blog
Labor Ballot Measure Roundup
Voters around the country faced numerous ballot measures yesterday, of which many involved labor policy.
News Release
On Right-To-Work Amendment: ‘Bravo for Sen. McConnell and Sen. Paul – shame on Sen. Reid’
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 – Though their effort did not meet with success, Kentucky’s U.S. Senators deserve thanks for their efforts to offer a National Right…
Blog
Memo to Road Socialists: There Is Nothing Unlibertarian about Road Pricing
Virginia just elected Democrat Terry McAuliffe as governor, as had been predicted by every poll conducted during the past few months -- although at a…
Blog
Senate Poised to Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Yesterday, the Senate voted 61-to-30 to invoke cloture on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban workplace bias based on sexual orientation or…
Blog
House Passes Bill to Delay DOL Overreach
Last week, 30 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representative joined Republicans to approve the Retail Investor Protection Act, which delays the Department of Labor's…
Blog
Happy Halloween! FAA to Allow Portable Electronic Devices During All Flight Phases
A month ago, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recommended that the agency drop its ban on portable electronic device (PED)…
Blog
Congressional Scorecard Update–Richard Griffin Confirmation
Yesterday, the Senate voted 55-44 to confirm Richard Griffin as the National Labor Relations Board general counsel, with Senator Lisa Murkowski as the sole Republican…
Blog
Jane Brody’s Uninformed Attack on Cars and Suburbia
While at a conference where participants discussed the wannabe social engineers cum urbanists' war on automobility and housing affordability, Jane Brody's broadside against Americans'…
Blog
Racial Preferences in Obamacare, and Discrimination, Too, Based on Weird Ideology
The Daily Caller has an interesting story about race-conscious provisions and racial preferences contained in Obamacare. It's a subject that has received remarkably little…
Blog
Racial Preferences and Red Tape Grow Under Federal Dodd-Frank Act
Last Friday on National Review's The Corner, Roger Clegg wrote about the 2010 law governing the financial sector, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the racial "diversity quotas"…
News Release
Oppose Obama’s Pick For NLRB General Counsel
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 – Richard Griffin, one of three members of the National Labor Relations Board who lost their seats when their “recess” appointments were…
Blog
More Bipartisan Opposition to Obama Administration’s Move to Block Airline Merger (Including Rahm Emanuel)
Another day, another round of public bipartisan opposition to the Obama Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block the pending American Airlines and US Airways merger.
Human Events
The Real Reasons We Have a Public Pensions Crisis
America’s public pension funds are in trouble because sketchy Mr. Wall Street sold some slack-jawed pension fund managers on risky investments with promises of high…
Blog
The NSA: Upgrading from Privacy Destruction to Job Destruction
At a recent Cato Institute event on NSA spying activities, the ACLU’s Chris Soghoian stated that NSA activities were not only a threat to…
The American Spectator
BART’s Bogus Ride
It was the 1970s and Britain was the “sick man of Europe.” Labor unions had toppled one Conservative government and were bullying the existing Labour…
Blog
Public Pensions Are Not Property
Across the nation, state and local governments in dire financial straits face great difficulty in their efforts to bring their budgets under control. Pensions are…
Blog
Loosened Laws in New Jersey Result in Brewery Boom
Only a year after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that would allow breweries in the garden state to sell beer…
Products
Freedom of Information Act Requests on Official Time During Government Shutdown
The following are Freedom of Information Act requests seeking documents related…
Blog
Controversial NLRB General Counsel Nomination Vote Approaching
Now that the partial government shutdown is over, its back to business as usual. As such, the Senate will tackle the controversial nomination of Richard…
Blog
More than a Third of House Dems Oppose Obama’s American-US Airways Merger Lawsuit; What Real Pro-Competition Policy Looks Like
Bipartisan opposition to the Obama administration’s reckless assault on the pending merger of American Airlines and US Airways is growing. While the end of the…
Blog
More Myths About the Government Shutdown
Young people often don't realize that government shutdowns used to be common, until the middle of the Clinton administration. The George W. Bush presidency was an exception…
Blog
Boston Bus Drivers Illegal Strike
On October 8, hundreds of Boston Public School union bus drivers went on a surprise strike, which left nearly 33,000 kids without a ride to…
Blog
Obama Administration Memo: Keep Paying Union Bosses on Official Time
Over the weekend, the House unanimously passed the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. If passed by the Senate, all furloughed federal employees will receive…
The American Spectator
Labor analyst: Volkswagen workers claim ‘misled’ by UAW
Matt Patterson, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says the issue is important because, if it’s true, it would “significantly compromise” the union’s chances…
Blog
NYC Rubber Rooms Still Packed
Just three years ago, New York City Mayor Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers publicly heralded a deal to end "rubber rooms," the reassignment…
Blog
California Labor Board Rejects Farm Workers’ Petition to Decertify Union
On September 25, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board denied a petition submitted by Gerawan Farming workers to decertify the United Farm Workers union.
Blog
Farm Workers Resist Union Representation
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board show that less than 10 percent of employees actually voted for their…
Blog
Labor Department Imposes Disability Hiring Quotas, Even in Divisions that Don’t Get Federal Contracts
The Obama Labor Department has just finalized rules that will effectively require businesses that get federal contracts to adopt a 7 percent hiring quota for the…
Free Beacon
IBEW Criticizes EPA’s New Coal Emission Standards
“The unions oppose President Obama’s new coal rule for a simple reason: It’s terrible for the economy,” said William Yeatman, an energy policy expert at…
Blog
Private Lobbyists and Public Pensions Don’t Mix
Government officials mismanaging public funds is nothing new. But giving public pensions to private lobbyists is a new low. A recent Associated Press report uncovered…
Blog
Private lobbyists collecting public pensions is illegal gift
State and local pension funds face unfunded liabilities ranging from $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to various reports. This is well-known problem and many…
Free Beacon
CEI’s Patterson: Right-to-Work Laws Represent ‘Common Sense’
Matt Patterson, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is a strong advocate of states with right-to-work laws. These laws…
Blog
Worker Centers Collecting Federal Funds
This summer, worker centers gained public notoriety with staged strikes at fast-food restaurants and Wal-Mart. Their effectiveness in gaining media attention has not been lost…
Providence Journal
Private lobbyists collecting public pensions is illegal gift
State and local pension funds face unfunded liabilities ranging from $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to various reports. This is well-known problem and many…
Blog
DOL Finalizes Companionship Rule
With little notice, on September 17, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez finalized a rule to extend the Fair Labor Standards Act--minimum wage and overtime protections--to nearly…
Blog
More Harm from “Disparate Impact” Regulations
Earlier, we wrote about the Obama administration’s attempt to inject a race-conscious “disparate impact” provision into colorblind anti-discrimination laws like the Fair Housing Act,…
Providence Journal
Wisconsin teachers union decertified in latest blow to labor under Walker law
But Matt Patterson, labor analyst with the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, claimed the vote was a sign that workers were turning their backs on…
Blog
Third Largest Wisconsin Teachers Union Members Exercise New Freedom
This week Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's government-sector collective bargaining reform was upheld in Federal District Court.
Providence Journal
UAW hopes to get recognition at Chattanooga VW plant without vote
Anti-union groups are already openly fighting the UAW’s move to organize at the plant. One, the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, even put a message on…
Blog
Update on American Airlines-US Airways Merger: Judge Approves American’s Bankruptcy Plan
Today, Judge Sean Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved American Airlines’s reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy protection,…
Providence Journal
UAW says most Chattanooga workers want union while opponents fear the worst, call for secret ballot
But, Matt Patterson, senior fellow for the Center for Economic Freedom at the Washington, D.C.-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he’s skeptical the UAW even has…
News Release
D.C. Mayor Rightly Vetoes Union-Backed Wage Bill
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 12, 2013 – Today, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a union-backed bill that would have levied an especially high minimum…
News Release
Kenosha Teachers Vote Down Union, Empowered by Wisconsin Labor Reforms
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 12, 2013 – Today, teachers in Kenosha, Wis., voted to decertify their union, the Kenosha Education Association, by a margin of nearly…
Blog
D.C. Agrees to Costly Project Labor Agreement
It is well-documented that Project Labor Agreements drive up costs, by some estimates up to 12 to 18 percent. This is because PLA's subvert competitive…
Blog
SEIU Celebrates Siphoning Millions from Home Care Providers
A SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana press release announced an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its first organizing win over home care providers. According to…
Blog
Longshore Union’s Exit from AFL-CIO Illustrates Bad Feature of U.S. Labor Law
The largest longshoremen’s union in the West Coast has decided to leave the AFL-CIO. While this may be an internecine organized labor fight, it…
Blog
Louisville Subsidizes Union Activity
A plague on taxpayer funds known as union release time infects nearly every state and municipal government coffers. This inappropriate government expenditure/practice excuses public employees…
Blog
New Estimate: Public Pensions Underfunded by $4.1 Trillion
One of the challenges in addressing the underfunding of public pensions is determining how big the funding gaps are. Estimates vary because of disagreement over…
Blog
Scholars React to President’s Call to Shrink Law School from Three Years to Two
We earlier discussed (and agreed with) President Obama’s suggestion that law schools cut their length of study to two years from the current three…
Human Events
Entrepreneurial Immigrants: America’s Lifeblood
It’s a story as American as apple pie: An immigrant comes to the United States, starts a business and becomes the proud owner of a…
Human Events
Volkswagen and UAW Are Getting Cozier, but Will They Ultimately Match Up?
The UAW also remains staunchly opposed over any aims in Chattanooga by politicians in Tennessee, a conservative redoubt where much of the opposition to the Detroit…
Human Events
VW and UAW meet over U.S plant, report says
Critics argue that the union’s bargaining style is partly to blame for the recent struggles of Detroit’s automakers. One anti-union group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Blog
Big Labor Public Outrage Pays Dividends
In what should not be much of a surprise, the Obama administration is looking to quell labor leaders complaints over Obamacare by offering them taxpayer…
Blog
By Opposing Airline Merger, Obama Risks Wrath of Powerful Unions
When the Department of Justice unexpectedly filed suit to block the merger between US Airways and American Airlines, I noted that unions representing various workers…
Blog
Honoring Entry-Level Positions
Today, as has been publicized for weeks now, fast-food workers across the country are expected to walk off the their jobs. The union organized movement…
Huffington Post
Don’t Let Entrepreneurs Become a Casualty of the Immigration Impasse
Eberhard Anheuser came to America as a soap and candle maker in 1842. When he died, his company had pioneered the pasteurization of beer. Marcus…
