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
News Release
US economy added 64,000 jobs in November but underemployment and stagflation cause concern: CEI analysis
The US Labor Department released its report today on jobs added to the economy in November 2025, a modest gain. But underemployment and the…
Blog
Court rejects New York bid to take over federal labor enforcement
An effort by the New York legislature to usurp the role of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency,…
Law & Liberty
America’s Hidden Judiciary
Unbeknownst to most Americans, federal regulatory agencies have their own court system for adjudicating disputes that businesses and citizens have with regulators. These agencies rely…
Search Posts
Blog
Is the AFL-CIO Biting off More than it Can Chew?
Organized labor has long been a major force within the broader progressive coalition at the Democratic Party’s left wing. Unions regularly work with environmental and…
Blog
Empire of Rust: How the UAW Killed Detroit
On Detroit’s east side, the abandoned Packard automaking facility looms tomb-like over 40 acres of once-prime real estate, its hollow buildings ringed with mounds of…
News Release
IRS Employees on Obamacare: “Not For Me, Thanks”
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 26, 2013 – IRS employees aren’t big fans of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—at least, not as far as it concerns their…
Blog
CEI Podcast For July 25, 2013: The UAW And Chattanooga
The United Auto Workers union is campaigning to organize a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Senior Fellow Matt Patterson talks about his recent trip to…
Blog
More Economic Suffering Due to Obamacare
The Washington Post reports on the ever-growing number of people losing wages and facing pay cuts due to the 2010 healthcare law: For Kevin…
Blog
End Of Compulsory Dues Has Led To Plummeting Union Membership In Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker “can deny that he wanted to weaken public sector unions, but whatever his motivation, that’s what has happened.” Thus concluded an eye-opening…
Blog
California Close to Granting Big Labor Protections from Disclosure
California is going where only two other progressive bastions—Maryland and Illinois—have gone before in terms of providing unions with special privileges. If Assembly Bill 729…
Blog
Public Forum Re-cap: Chattanooga, UAW & Free Markets
WPC’s Matt Patterson was invited to speak at a public event about the possible costs and consequences Tennessee might face should the United Auto Workers…
Blog
D.C. Council Bows to UFCW, Votes No on Walmart, Yes to High Prices
Washington, D.C., has some of the highest living costs in the country. Its metro area contains six of the nation’s ten wealthiest counties, making it…
Blog
Motor City Runs Out of Gas
And here it is, the news we’ve all been expecting: The Motor City has finally sputtered to a halt. On Thursday July 18, 2013, the…
Blog
Time To Make Federal Employees Accountable
Government labor unions have long been able to conduct union business while on the job and on the taxpayer dime, under a little-known policy called…
Blog
The Million-Dollar Bus Stop Breaks
A new cooling fan should arrive in the next two weeks. Until then, the super stop will be a bus stop like any other, unless…
Citation
UAW slammed at forum on labor organization efforts at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen factory
The Chattanooga Volkswagen plant’s former head of manufacturing on Thursday hit the idea of unionizing the factory, saying the United Auto Workers would take employees…
Citation
Citizens For Free Markets To Host Free Public Forum To Discuss Costs Of Unionizing
Speakers will include Matt Patterson, labor specialist and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Dr. Charles Van Eaton, labor economist and Don Jackson, former…
Blog
DC Super-Minimum Wage: Bad Idea, Bad Policy
Washington D.C. City Council’s bill that would require large retailers (namely Wal-Mart) to pay a super-minimum wage is not only bad public policy, but also…
Op-Eds
Internet Myth: Ronald Reagan Regretted Legalization
Americans often bolster arguments with quotes from Founding Fathers or other U.S. political icons. Unfortunately, this practice often leads to quotes being invented to support…
Blog
Gallup: Record Opposition to Closed Borders
A record number of Americans favor allowing more foreigners to enter and live in the United States each year. Nearly a quarter of Americans (23…
Blog
Unions Plead for Changes to Obamacare, Citing Lost Wages and Benefits
The Wall Street Journal reports today that the leaders of three major labor unions are asking Congress to make fundamental changes to Obamacare, saying that without such changes, it will…
Citation
Anti-, pro-unionization efforts ramp up at Volkswagen
A labor project run by Matt Patterson, a senior fellow at the Washington D.C., nonprofit the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which advocates for “limited government,…
Blog
DHS Secretary Napolitano Resigns, TSA Body Scanner Scandal Remains Unresolved
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is resigning to become president of the University of California system. Republican politicians such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)…
Blog
Senate Committee Passes ENDA, Which Would Lead to Meritless Litigation and Erode Free Speech
A Senate Committee has voted 15-to-7 to approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, "a bill that would prohibit employers from discriminating against workers on the basis…
Blog
VMT Comes to Oregon
Since its inception, the Interstate Highway System has been universally revered for its scale and accessibility. But the primary funding mechanism which supports it, the…
Blog
Another Reason to Love the Sequester: Budget Cuts Prevent Agency from Destroying Valuable Computer Equipment
An agency unnecessarily destroyed $170,000 worth of computing hardware, and planned to destroy $3 million more, in response to garden-variety, easy-to-guard-against malware that…
Blog
Going Nowhere: Transit Workers’ Strike Immobilizes City
After scouring travel sites for hours, I finally found a great deal—the flight would land at the Oakland Airport (OAK) in the San Francisco Bay…
Op-Eds
E-Verify Exposes The Hypocrisy In Republican Free Market Rhetoric
After he introduced the Regulatory Accountability Act, Rep. Lamar Smith summarized the GOP attitude on regulation since the Tea Party movement’s influential rise. “Employers across…
Blog
After 78 Years the NLRA Needs a Makeover
Last week marked the seventy-eighth anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing the National Labor Relations Act into law. In that time, it has become clear…
Blog
Terrible Ideas that Don’t Die: National Infrastructure Bank Edition
Last Tuesday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill to create a government-owned corporation that would finance infrastructure projects, otherwise known as a national infrastructure…
Blog
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Union “Neutrality”
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear a challenge to President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, which he made while the…
Blog
Taxpayers Fund IRS Employees’ Representation When Audited
By now, everyone is familiar with the IRS illegally targeting limited-government organizations that applied for non-profit status.
Blog
Bay Area Commuters at the Mercy of Transit Workers
Another week, another reminder that state and local governments are held hostage by their own employees. After a weekend of negotiations failed to yield an…
Blog
Thanks to Students for Liberty at UTC!
WorkplaceChoice would like to thank Students for Liberty at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga for joining the “Save Chattanooga” campaign.
Citation
The zero sum rightwing
Anti-immigrant voices on the right should make up their minds: Do they believe in free markets — in freedom itself — or not? If not,…
Citation
This Week in Small Business: Half-Time Report
Red Tape Pete Wise listed five legal myths small-business owners should avoid, including this one: “I don’t need a lawyer.” And David Bier explained…
Blog
What the Senate Immigration Bill Got Right
The Senate’s passage of its immigration reform bill is a meaningful victory for free markets. Free markets ought to extend beyond borders. As has been…
Blog
The Plot Thickens: Mystery Trip to Germany for Chattanooga City Officials
Earlier this month, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger skipped the Mayor’s Industry Appreciation Breakfast in order to meet with…
Op-Eds
UAW ate Detroit: Chattanooga could be its next meal
Co-written by Research Associate Julia Tavlas. Will Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant expand and hire more workers? That’s what Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger and City Mayor…
News Release
CEI’s Labor Project Launches Educational Campaign in Chattanooga About United Auto Workers Union
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 28, 2013 — CEI Senior Fellow and Labor Project Director Matt Patterson has begun a summer-long campaign to educate business leaders,…
Blog
DOMA Decision: Win for the Rights of U.S. Citizens to Freely Associate with Foreigners
“We received a cold, brief letter from the Immigration Service notifying us that our petition had been denied. Why? Because we’re both men.” That was…
Citation
Bill to Expand U.S. Database to Verify Hires
“I don’t think people really understand that this creates a regulation not just for every employer, or for every immigrant, but also for every citizen…
News Release
Senate Immigration Bill Passage: Meaningful Victory for Free Market Reform
Washington, D.C., June 27, 2013 – Today, the Senate passed the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) by a substantial margin.
Blog
DOL Regulating An Entreprenuer Out of Business
Not much of a surprise, but the Department of Labor is inappropriately enforcing arcane regulations that threaten an entrepreneur. In a recent USA Today op-ed,…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 26, 2013: TSA Full-Body Scanner Transparency
Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner discusses the TSA's lack of transparency and the scanners' ineffectiveness in deterring terrorism.
Blog
Border Security Doesn’t Require “Invading” the Border
When President Bush left office in January 2009, there were about 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. If the Senate immigration bill (S. 744) passes, this…
News Release
Border Security Amendment Wastes Money, Adds Taxes, Fails to Address the Causes of Illegal Immigration
Washington, D.C., June 26, 2013 — Today, the Senate voted to approve a major security amendment to the Senate immigration bill (S. 744). The…
Blog
No Help Wanted: Unions Shut Out Foreign Students
Union-backed provisions in the Senate immigration bill would punish organizations that coordinate visits for foreign students who spend summers traveling and working in America.
Blog
E-Verify: A Boon for Lawyers, Bad for Employers
I have written extensively about the threats to Americans’ civil liberties from E-Verify, the employment verification system contained within the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform (CIR)…
Blog
A Critique of “300 Million Engines of Growth”: Why More Spending Won’t Cure what Ails U.S. Infrastructure
Earlier this month, the Center for American Progress issued a report in which it set out recommendations for growing the American economy. A significant…
News Release
CEI Experts Welcome Court’s Decision to Rule on NLRB Case
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2013 – Legal and labor policy experts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute said today they are pleased the Supreme Court…
Blog
President Repeats False “Equal Pay” Statistic Claiming Women Earn 77 Percent of What Men Do
President Obama repeated a myth about equal pay and pay discrimination, as the economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes at RealClearMarkets: Last week in the…
Blog
E-Verify National ID System Threatens Americans’ Privacy
“I’m not a criminal, so there’s really no reason for me to be in a criminal database.” That was James Shepherd, a Kentucky native…
Blog
NLRB: One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
Last Friday another court struck down the NLRBs “poster rule” a requirement on employers to prominently display a notice of employee union rights. The U.S.
Blog
GOP Introduces NLRB Reform Bill
On June 13, Representative Tom Price introduced the Representation Fairness Restoration Act that would rollback significant policy changes created in the National Labor Relations Board…
News Release
Border Security Amendments Won’t Work Without Legal Immigration Fix
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 13, 2013 — Yesterday, Sen. John Cornyn proposed a major amendment to the Senate immigration bill (S. 744), which would completely…
Blog
Free Labor Markets: Why Immigrant Riots Aren’t in America’s Future
Sweden’s recent immigrant riots demonstrate America’s large advantage over Europe in assimilating immigrants.
News Release
Senate Immigration Bill Needs Rewrite on Guest Workers, Visa Regs, E-Verify, CEI Analyst Says
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 11, 2013 — Today, the Senate voted to proceed with debate on the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act…
Blog
CEI Sues Social Security Administration for Ignoring FOIA Request
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed suit in D.C. Circuit Court against the Social Security Administration (SSA) for ignoring a CEI FOIA request that sought…
Blog
Let’s “Officially” End Union Subsidies
This week Senator Rob Portman and Sen. Tom Coburn sent a letter to the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs with a message that…
Legal Brief
CEI v. Social Security Administration – June 6 Complaint
Full Document Available in PDF Plaintiff COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE (“CEI”) for its complaint against Defendant SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (“SSA”), alleges as follows:…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 6, 2013: Making Passenger Rail Affordable
Fellow in Land-use and Transportation Studies Marc Scribner discusses a new CEI study arguing that regulations make passenger train cars unnecessarily expensive.
Blog
IRS: Double Standard Benchmark
Americans expect that federal agents will enforce the law with integrity, and they expect the ever-prying eyes of an independent media to help ensure that…
Blog
Time for an official end to federal employee union subsidies
Did you know you're paying for union officials to do union business with your tax dollars, a practice known as "official time"?…
News Release
It’s Not Just EPA; CEI Sues Social Security Administration for Ignoring FOIA Request
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 6, 2013 – It’s not just the Environmental Protection Agency that doesn’t seem to be able to respond to a Freedom of…
Blog
France Needs a “Power-Up” When It Comes to Labor Reform
In its annual country report released on Monday, the IMF turned up the heat on France for labor reform. The Washington-based lender called for…
Blog
Epic Union Walkout a Total Failure
Ten years is a long time. For example, ten years ago Facebook did not exist. “Friends” was still in its 9th season. iTunes was only…
Blog
Graph: More Visas, Less Illegal Immigration
The graph below comes from University of Pennsylvania economist Douglas Massey. It depicts the three ways Mexican migrants have come to the United States–guest…
Blog
Union Invasion: UAW Targets Tennessee
One hundred and fifty years ago an invading Union army was halted at Chattanooga by the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg. The…
Blog
Wisconsin Town Criminalizes Parents for Kids’ Bullying and Offensive Speech
Law Professor Eugene Volokh has an interesting post on a Wisconsin town's "bullying" ordinance, which criminalizes speech by minors as "bullying" or "harassment" if…
Blog
Senate Bill: Better for Legal Immigration
Free market immigration advocates recognize that freeing up America’s legal immigration system creates economic benefits for Americans while simultaneously expanding their rights of…
Blog
European Skepticism of Minimum Wage Falls on Deaf Ears in America
Spain’s central bank—operating within the European country with the highest rate of unemployment—just recommended to the government in Madrid a suspension of the minimum…
Blog
Union Buyer Remorse on Obamacare?
Be careful what you wish for. That's the lesson Big Labor is learning now that Obamacare is unfolding in all its mighty messiness. Labor leaders,…
Blog
Who is Bob King?
The United Auto Workers union is desperately trying to organize Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant. The union’s President, Bob King, has made it his personal mission to…
Blog
Senate Bill Won’t Stop Illegal Immigration Without More Work Visas
When the Senate “Gang of 8” released their immigration reform principles earlier this year, they made an important admission: that drastic restrictions on low-skilled…
Blog
IRS Political Harassers Could Theoretically Be Fired, as Required by 1998 Law
Earlier, I wrote about how, thanks to civil-service regulations, it is hard to fire government employees for misconduct, despite often-ignored Constitutional provisions, such…
Blog
Oh, the Irony: Unions vs. The Liberal Agenda
In a new study released by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Senior Fellow Daniel DiSalvo found that the increasing cost of binding union contracts…
Blog
Entrepreneurship Visas in Senate Immigration Bill Are Critical
This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Gang of 8 immigration bill. One provision of this bill will be welcome news to potential…
Blog
NLRB Nominees March Through the U.S. Senate
On May 22, 2013 the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved President Barack Obama’s five nominees for the National Labor Relations Board…
Blog
Anti-Business and Anti-Freedom: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
In the American Spectator, CEI Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray and Geoffrey McLatchey explain why the Senate should be skeptical of the United Nations Convention…
Blog
Does Austerity Really “Kill”?
Does austerity kill? In a recent New York Times op-ed, David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu claim that fiscal austerity leads to a worsening of health…
Blog
Firing Government Employees Is Too Hard; the Constitution Intended for It to Be Easier
It's hard to get rid of a career bureaucrat, even at the managerial level. "After you've been here for a year, it's easier to kill…
Blog
Five Reasons Immigration Creates Economic Benefits
First, if each new immigrant lowers living standards, new people also lower living standards. But without new people, America’s economy would lack the workers it…
Blog
No Duh: IRS Union Loves Obama
In other news, mice like cheese. "NTEU supported the re-election of President Obama as being in the best interests...of the dedicated men and women of…
Blog
Arizona: Busting Official Time
Use by state and local governments of tax dollars to reward special interests is a longstanding plague on the health of our government finances. But…
Blog
IRS Protest: A Firsthand Report
On May 21, 2013 Tea Party Patriots coordinated protest rallies at over 100 IRS offices throughout the nation. I arrived at the national office in…
Blog
Chicago Teachers Union: We Decide When Your Kids Learn
Yesterday the Chicago Teachers Union wrapped up a three-day protest over the yet to be determined but possible closure of more than 50 public schools.
Blog
IRS-Gate: Time to End Government Unions
What did the President know, and when did he know it? That is the question many are asking in the wake of the unfolding scandal…
Blog
What Happened to U.S. Wages During Mass Immigration?
America’s immigration debate often focuses on how immigrants affect the welfare state, even though many immigration restrictionists would oppose immigration even if we did…
Blog
Minnesota DFLers Attempt to Payback Big Labor
Even though a survey conducted by the Minnesota Licensed Family Child Care Association showed 86 percent of family childcare providers in Minnesota oppose pending legislation…
Blog
Could a Unionized Federal Employee Reject a Visa Application for Political Reasons?
Now that IRS officials have been caught red-handed targeting conservative organizations, it is reasonable to ask whether officials at other federal agencies also need more…
Blog
Treasurers’ Union: A Treasure Trove for Democrats
The Internal Revenue Services claims to be “one of the world's most efficient tax administrators.” But it may also be one of the most biased.
Blog
Chaos at the NLRB
Yes, a second court has now ruled that President Obama's "recess" appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional. The 2-1 decision from the…
Letters
Coalition Letter on E-Verify Amendment
Full Document Available in PDF We, the undersigned organizations, representing thousands of businesses and millions of Americans from all sides of the…
Blog
‘Gift Clause’ Can Eliminate Union Pork
What happens when state laws grant government unions the power of collective bargaining? Taxpayer funds become misused and end up aiding government union bosses at…
News Release
Diverse Coalition Supports E-Verify Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2013 — This week, an ideologically diverse coalition of 44 organizations led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, National Small Business…
Op-Eds
E-Verify’s biometric database: A huge step toward a permission-slip society
“Maybe we should just brand all the babies.” With this mocking remark, Ronald Reagan dismissed a national ID proposal in 1981. In the 32 years…
Blog
Sorry, Daily Beast: E-Verify Will Be National ID
Daily Beast blogger Justin Green, who blogs on columnist David Frum’s Daily Beast blog, has responded to Wired’s recent article “Biometric Database of All…
Blog
Milton Friedman, Immigration, and Birth Control
Milton Friedman, perhaps the most important free market economist and libertarian activist of the 20th century, is also the favorite of immigration restrictionists for comments he…
Citation
Could Immigration Bill Lead to Big Brother Database?
David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, warned, “The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of permission basically to do…
Blog
Correcting Misconceptions about Autonomous Vehicles: Reason Magazine Edition
In the June issue of Reason, one of my favorite publications, Greg Beato has an article discussing the public policy implications of autonomous vehicles, such…
Blog
Heritage Immigration Report Implies 70% of Americans “Increase Poverty”
The Heritage Foundation’s new report on the fiscal costs of legalization for unauthorized immigrants concluded that it will cost taxpayers $6.3 trillion. Yesterday, I…
Blog
Government’s Chinatown Bus Shutdowns Based on “Statistical Malpractice”
Reason’s Jim Epstein has an article up that does a nice job debunking a National Transportation Safety Board study, prompted by a 2011…
