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
The Daily Signal
How Trump Can Curb the Power of Unelected Regulators
Do federal agencies face any limits on their power? Recently, a federal appeals court ruled that Richard Cordray’s position as director of the Consumer…
Blog
A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 115th Congress
At CEI, we believe a clear agenda is necessary to move America toward economic growth, prosperity, and liberty for individuals to chart their own paths…
Politico
Is it Puzder?
Politico's Morning Shift highlights CEI's labor policy agenda for the 115th Congress. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning nonprofit, released its policy agenda…
InsideSources
Why New Deal Era Laws Are a Drag On the American Worker
InsideSources highlights CEI's labor policy priorities for the 115th Congress. The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a detailed report Thursday listing policies it hopes…
Daily Caller
Trump Nominates Fight For $15 Critic For Labor Secretary
The Daily Caller discusses discusses President-elect Trump's pick for Labor Secretary with Trey Kovacs. Free-market groups and right-leaning think tanks hailed the decision.
Products
Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
Read the full chapter on Labor and Employment here Increases in productivity—not artificial increases in labor prices—are the key to economic growth and rising…
Blog
Obama Overtime Rule Would Have Wreaked Havoc Starting Today
Today, the Obama Department of Labor’s new overtime regulation was scheduled to go into effect. Thousands of businesses, universities, nonprofits, and local and state governments…
Washington Examiner
White House files appeal to save overtime rule
Washington Examiner discusses a judge's injuction on the overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. "Despite the harmful impact of the overtime rule on…
Washington Free Beacon
Labor Department Appeals OT Loss
The Washington Free Beacon discusses how a Texas judge blocked the overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. In addition to the overtime regulations,…
Blog
O’Hare Airport Strikes: Will Anybody Notice?
If 500 workers are absent for several hours and it hardly affects a thing at the airport, then how essential are they?…
Blog
Court Blocks Overtime Rule
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez learned a harsh lesson this month. Public servants at federal agencies cannot allow their political preferences to guide their regulatory agenda.
The Washington Free Beacon
Another Obama Admin Labor Rule in Jeopardy
The Washington Free Beacon speaks with Trey Kovacs on a judge's injunction of the overtime rule. Labor watchdogs and attorneys say the injunction…
Fox News
Labor and employment priorities for the Trump administration
President-elect Donald Trump says economic growth and job creation are top priorities of his administration, and with good reason. For much of the past eight…
Independent Journal Review
It’s Time For The New President And Congress To Think Big When It Comes To Cutting Government Waste
Political revolutions don’t come around often: Margaret Thatcher in Britain in 1979, the fall of the Berlin Wall in Eastern Europe in 1990, the Contract…
Blog
Report: Nationwide Grading of Government Union Laws
At the federal level, the two primary labor and employment statutes—National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, have remained relatively untouched for decades.
InsideSources
The Obama Workplace Policies Likely on the Trump Chopping Block
InsideSources discusses harmful labor regulations that the Trump administration can get rid of with Trey Kovacs. “Executive orders and guidance can be…
Blog
Free Market Opportunities for the Trump Administration
This election has given us one more demonstration that knowledge is dispersed and “trusting the experts” to know the future is foolish. The unexpected success…
InsideSources
Court Blocks Blacklisting Rule that Imposes Massive Costs, Produces No Clear Benefits
In the closing act of the Obama administration, federal agencies are rushing to finalize regulations. Notably, the regulators over at the Department of Labor are…
The Virginian-Pilot
Trey Kovacs: Virginians should preserve the right to work
No one should be forced to financially support an organization they disagree with under threat of penalty. Virginians have the chance to stand up for…
Blog
The UK Uber Ruling and Two-Sided Markets
One of the things that the UK Employment Tribunal’s recent ruling (that people who use the Uber platform should be employees of the company)…
Blog
Permitting Government Employee Strikes is Bad Policy
On Tuesday, the Transportation Workers Union Local 234 (TWU) union bosses ordered nearly 5,000 public employees who work for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)…
Blog
Uber and the Market Price
I have an article today up at the Foundation for Economic Education that looks at the UK’s employment tribunal ruling that Uber drivers are employees…
Blog
5 Scariest Halloween Regulations
Regulatory dark matter is a Washington boogeyman. In 2015, there were 39 regulations for every one law passed by Congress. That’s a lot of rules…
Blog
Congress: Do the Economy a Favor, Defund Harmful Labor Regulations
Research from the National Association of Manufacturers estimates that the aggregate costs of labor regulations imposed just this year by the Obama administration’s Department of…
Study
Congress Can Protect Workers Using the Power of the Purse
View Full Document as PDF In 2016 to date, the Obama administration has burdened the American public with nearly $100 billion in…
News Release
CEI Report Urges Congress to De-Fund Harmful Labor Regulations
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) report urges Congress to use its power of the purse to stop a spate of new rules imposed by…
Blog
Maine’s Proposed Minimum Wage Increase Has Tradeoffs
Maine is one of several states with a minimum wage increase on the election ballot this year, along with several cities and other smaller jurisdictions.
Blog
Unfunded Public Pension Obligations Grow to $5.6 Trillion
State public pension plans are underfunded by nearly $5.6 trillion nationwide, according to a new American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) study.
Blog
Communications Union Holds Sham Trial against Verizon Workers
In April, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union ordered 36,000 Verizon employees to strike. Despite the fact that Verizon offered a fair deal in…
Blog
Three Ways the Next President Can Help America Out
At this moment, it’s likely the presidential candidates are busy preparing for the third and final debate tonight.
Foundation for Economic Education
One Driver’s Story Shows the Benefits of the Sharing Economy
When I was in London last week, I chatted with my Uber drivers whenever I used the service to get around the city. One driver’s…
Foundation for Economic Education
Work Is Changing for the Better, and Government Is Trying to Hold It Back
Should your boss tell you how to vote? To even ask the question is absurd today, but it was not always so. Prior to the…
Blog
Proposed Labor Law Overhaul Would Decrease Worker Choice, Increase Union Power
The Center for American Progress (CAP) released a report that calls for an overhaul of U.S. labor law. It cites increasing income inequality and dwindling…
The Daily Signal
The Sneaky Way Public Unions Are Getting Tax Dollars for Union Activities
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars wisely, on activities that benefit the public. But across the country, governments at all levels give away…
News Release
CEI Expert: Devastating Overtime Rule Must be Delayed
This week, the House will consider Rep. Tim Walberg’s (R-Mich.) Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act (H.R.6094), which delays the implementation…
Blog
House Considers Bill Delaying Department of Labor’s Overtime Rule
Today, the House Rules Committee will consider Representative Tim Walberg’s bill to delay implementation of the Department of Labor’s overtime rule.
InsideSources
House Republicans Fight to Delay Obama’s Overtime Rule
InsideSources discusses the overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been one of several policy groups expressing concern over…
Blog
How the Next President Can Improve Labor and Employment Policy
With the presidential election heading into the first debate, what can the next president do to improve national labor and employment policy?…
Blog
RIP Reed Larson
Don’t have to pay union dues? You can probably thank Reed Larson.
Blog
Wells Fargo and the Principal-Agent Problem
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has celebrated the $100 million fine it has imposed on San Francisco bank Wells Fargo for its employees’ improper handling…
Blog
Arizona Supreme Court Rules Taxpayers Should Be Forced to Subsidize Government Unions
Yesterday, the Arizona Supreme Court determined that there is no better way to spend tax dollars than to give them to government unions so that…
Blog
Destroying the Marketplace in Education
The federal government happily subsidizes awful state colleges that graduate few if any of their students.
News Release
CEI Criticizes Arizona Supreme Court Ruling Against Taxpayers, For Labor Unions
Taxpayers must still pay for labor union activities as a result of a ruling today by the Arizona Supreme Court. CEI labor policy expert Trey Kovacs…
Blog
Three Fast Food Favorites from Franchises
It’s no secret that flexibility and freedom to experiment foster creativity.
Blog
Michigan State Legislator Introduces Worker’s Choice Bill
Yesterday, a state representative from Michigan introduced novel legislation that would provide public-sector workers’ choice.
Blog
Work Is Changing, Employment Regulation Needs to Change Too
For many people, the 9 to 5, office- or factory-based, corporate job that Dolly Parton lamented in the 1980s is a thing of the past.
Blog
Texas Constitution Bans Taxpayer Subsidies to Private Parties
It may seem obvious, but tax dollars are supposed to be used for purely public purposes, not the private benefit of an individual, corporation, or…
Investor's Business Daily
Regulators Want You Punching The Clock On A Smartphone App
It's not your grandfather's workplace anymore. As anybody who has worked for 20 or more years will tell you, the world of work has…
Politico
AFL-CIO poll: Trump not wooing union members
Politico's Morning Shift highlights Iain Murray's report on regulations threatening flexible work arrangements and innovation. The conservative-leaning Competitive Enterprise Institute is out with…
Forbes
Bosses, Timecards, and Other Relics Of The 20th Century
Believe it or not, working at corporations for the majority of one’s career is a relatively recent phenomenon. For centuries, people worked as generalists, often…
