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
The inherent contradictions of unionized political campaigns
President Joe Biden is the first candidate expected to win their party’s presidential nomination with a unionized staff. Whether this is…
News Release
May jobs rebound, skilled workers still needed: CEI analysis
The job situation for May 2024 indicates employment numbers are rebounding with 272,000 jobs added, though employers are still struggling to find the right…
Blog
Unions outdo Donald Trump in crying foul over election losses
The US labor movement is rivaled only by Donald Trump when it comes to throwing out claims of election fraud. Like the Republican presidential candidate,…
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Blog
Walmart: A Black Eye On Black Friday
Walmart has long been one of the left's favorite boogeymen, and no wonder -- the company stubbornly and successfully has resisted efforts by labor unions to organize its workforce for years.
Blog
Walmart: A Black Eye On Black Friday
Openmarket.org Walmart has long been one of the left’s favorite boogeymen-men, and no wonder — the company has stubbornly and successfully resisted efforts by labor unions to organize its…
Overlawyered
Discrimination Law Roundup
EEOC continues to pressure employers over use of criminal background checks in hiring process [Hans Bader, Daniel Schwartz, Jon Hyman, earlier]…
Blog
Profile: The Union That Took Down Twinkees
We all know it as the labor union that took down snack food company Hostess, but what exactly is the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers…
Blog
Binding Arbitration’s Threat To State And Local Governments
One reason Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's labor reforms are considered far-reaching -- by both supporters and detractors -- is the fact that they were structural.
Blog
Bad Economic Omens Since The Election
Since the election, the stock market has fallen substantially. The S&P 500 has fallen over 5 percent. The prospect of "Taxmageddon" (massive tax increases…
Blog
Unionization Bad For TSA, Worse For Passengers
Along with the rising cost of bag fees, the most notorious nuisance air travelers must endure before reaching the terminal is the security checkpoint…
Blog
Union Strike-Showdown Could End In Hostess Shutdown
They are messing with our Twinkies. Upset over cuts to pensions and salaries brought on by a new collective bargaining contract, employees of Hostess, which…
Blog
Immigration Reform Resurrected!
Nothing makes politicians see the light like losing. Even while immigration restrictionists reassure themselves that the GOP’s immigration message is fine despite losing as…
Overlawyered
Business Survival in a Second Obama Term
Obama is the president who delayed the Keystone XL pipeline and its bounty of jobs, pushed “cap and trade” as part of an overall war…
Blog
Big Labor Victory Exaggerated, Fight Continues
After the 2012 election, labor unions celebrated what was seen as an overall victorious election season for their organizations. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka bragged…
Blog
D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh Still Doesn’t Understand Driverless Cars
Last Sunday, The Washington Post published my op-ed criticizing the approach taken by Councilmember Mary Cheh's introduced legislation to legalize driverless cars in Washington,…
Blog
CEI Podcast For November 8, 2012: Election Wrap-Up
Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains why the election turned out the way it did, and what the results mean going forward for…
Blog
Alaska Gold Rush For The Laborers’ Union
The Alaska Policy Forum recently exposed that the state’s legislature in 2011 and 2012 appropriated millions of tax dollars to finance the facilities of a…
Blog
Alaska Gold Rush For Laborers’ Union
Openmarket.org The Alaska Policy Forum recently exposed that the state’s legislature in 2011 and 2012 appropriated millions of tax dollars to finance a Laborer’s…
Blog
Alabama Unions Vs. Privacy: Organized Labor’s War On The Secret Ballot
Openmarket.org Tomorrow, Alabamans will have the opportunity to enshrine the secret ballot into their state constitution. A proposal before voters called Amendment 7 would “provide that…
Blog
Alabama Unions Vs. Privacy: Organized Labor’s War On The Secret Ballot
By Matt Patterson and Crissy Brown Tomorrow, Alabamans will have the opportunity to enshrine the secret ballot into their state constitution. A proposal before voters called Amendment…
Blog
Auto Industry Expert: “Romney’s Plan Also Would Have ‘Saved’ Detroit”
Earlier, we noted that the auto bailouts temporarily look more successful right now than they likely will be in the long-run since Toyota's bogus safety issues,…
Blog
KOVACS: Police union puts bargaining rights ahead of public safety
The Washington Times On Nov. 6, Montgomery County voters will decide whether the police chief or the head of the police union should determine…
Blog
Never Look A Gift (Clause) Horse In The Mouth
Openmarket.org In America, it is impossible to snuff out money from politics. As long as government has the power to dish out favors to…
Blog
Never Look A Gift (Clause) Horse In The Mouth
In America, it is impossible to snuff out money from politics. As long as government has the power to dish out favors to politically connected…
Blog
Pro-Charter Is Pro-Choice
This November, Washington could become the 42nd state to authorize charter schools. Washington residents will vote on Initiative 1240, which if passed will “allow…
Washington Times
Police union puts bargaining rights ahead of public safety
On Nov. 6, Montgomery County voters will decide whether the police chief or the head of the police union should determine public-safety policy. The voter…
Blog
California Unions Uber Alles?
In the media coverage of the presidential election, one state that is unlikely to get much attention is California, which appears to be solidly in…
Blog
Italy’s Greatest Economic Threat: Italian Politicians
Italian ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told news sources last week that his party -- Popolo della Libertà -- would soon decide whether or not to…
Blog
The threat striking fear into the hearts of weary airline travelers everywhere
By Matt Patterson, FoxNews.com On October 24th, 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Airline Deregulation Act, ending the nightmare of total government-control…
Washington Times
The threat striking fear into the hearts of weary airline travelers everywhere
On October 24th, 1978 President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Airline Deregulation Act, ending the nightmare of total government-control over air travel. But now…
Blog
PolitiFact Fixes Two Of Its Three Errors Related To The Supreme Court’s Ledbetter Decision
PolitiFact just revised a webpage discussing the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision that once contained an error that we discussed here and brought…
Blog
Immigration Policy Should Strive For The “City On The Hill,” Not The “Deserted Town”
Opponents of human movement, also known as “immigration,” argue that if the U.S. government stops forcibly preventing foreign-born people from relocating to the United States,…
Blog
Pepco Caves On Contract Dispute To Avoid Union Strike
Talk about having your negotiating adversary over the barrel. Pepco and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers’ Maryland-based Local 1900 had been in contract gridlock…
Blog
Police (Union) Brutality: Montgomery County Police “Effects” Bargaining Bludgeons Public Safety
Openmarket.org This November, voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, will decide whether the police chief or union boss should determine public safety policy. The voter initiative,…
Blog
Police (Union) Brutality: Montgomery County Police “Effects” Bargaining Bludgeons Public Safety
This November, voters in Montgomery County, Maryland, will decide whether the police chief or union boss should determine public safety policy. The voter initiative, which will appear…
Blog
PolitiFact Smears Supreme Court, Provides False Political Talking Point For Democratic Party
Earlier, the left-leaning "fact-checker" PolitiFact made the false claim the Supreme Court had declared employees are barred from suing over pay discrimination even…
Blog
Devolve Infrastructure Decision-Making To Promote Efficiency, Foster Innovation
Last week, Walter Russell Mead had an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing that traditional infrastructure spending will no longer provide the services…
Blog
The True Cost Of The Auto Bailout
By Matt Patterson and Crissy Brown, Openmarket.org Once upon a time, there was a company called General Motors. It made cars. But the company…
Blog
Culinary Workers Union Behind Sin City Setback
As of July 2012, the unemployment rate of greater Clark County, Nevada, which includes the desert oasis of Las Vegas, is at 12.9 percent,…
Blog
Greece Fire: Unions Hold Up Negotiations On Austerity Measures
This week, Greek officials and monetary lenders continued negotiations over the austerity measures the country must implement to save itself from economic collapse. Greece must…
The Volokh Conspiracy
When Fact Checkers Have Trouble With Facts
Another example of fact checkers having trouble with facts can be found in Politifact’s commentary on whether it was fair for President Obama to criticize…
Blog
Obama Makes False Claim About Supreme Court Decision; Fact-Checkers Parrot It
Reading a Supreme Court decision is so hard! If you are a fact-checker, it's much easier just to let President Obama, a critic of a…
Blog
Not All Jobs Are Created Equal
By Matt Patterson & Crissy Brown, American Thinker Once upon a time, there was a company called General Motors. It made cars. But the company was…
Blog
UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm To Step Down Following Turbulent Tenure
John Wilhelm, the long-time president of the union UNITE HERE, has just announced he plans to step down. Union leadership changes are not often…
Blog
China’s High-Speed Rail Disaster Is Not A Model For The U.S.
After taking office in 2009, President Obama aggressively marketed high-speed rail in the United States. (I noted at the time that most of what…
The Volokh Conspiracy
Republicans Denounce Immigration Regulations Reagan Created
“I believe this action by the Obama administration is unconstitutional and circumvents Congress’ authority.” That was Mississippi Republican Governor Phil Bryant explaining last week why…
Blog
PATTERSON AND BROWN: Greece’s grim future portends Western decline
By Matt Patterson and Chrissy Brown, The Washington Times In 490 B.C., the brand-new democracy at Athens faced its first existential challenge: a vast …
The Volokh Conspiracy
Greece’s grim future portends Western decline
In 490 B.C., the brand-new democracy at Athens faced its first existential challenge: a vast Persian army intent on crushing the Greek city-state for supporting…
Blog
Jobless Youth: Southern Europe’s Ticking Time Bomb
Forget austerity and bailouts. Southern Europe has an even bigger problem: a glut of unemployed young people. If this trend continues, workforces will regress in…
Blog
CEI Podcast For October 11, 2012: More Americans
Policy Analyst David Bier thinks the world could use more Americans. And an easy way make happen is through increasing legal immigration. America's superior economic…
Blog
New York Times And The Price Of Hypocrisy
Prompted by the Newspaper Guild, New York Times union employees carried out a brief walkout on Tuesday. At 3:35 pm, as many as 400 employees…
Blog
Unemployment Falls As Part-Time Work Expands
Unemployment fell from 8.1% to 7.8%, aided by an increase in part-time employment: "Some 582,000 Americans took part-time positions because of slack business conditions…
Blog
Regulations For Thee, But Not For Me
To liberals, regulations are great -- until they ensnare a liberal politician. Then, suddenly there needs to be an exception to the regulation. An example of…
Blog
New Chicago School Teacher Contract Nothing To Celebrate
Although Chicago public school teachers returned to their classrooms on Sept. 19, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) today officially ratified the contract to…
Blog
Suffocating Athena: Public Sector Unions Kill Greek Salvation — Again
On October 1, the Greek government unveiled an austerity package that aims to reduce public spending by $15 billion (11.5 billion euros) for 2013-2014,…
Blog
Obama Imposes Billions In Costs On Taxpayers In Order To Prevent Legally Required Disclosures
Yesterday, ABC News reported that "Defense contractor Lockheed Martin heeded a request from the White House . . . one with political overtones – and announced…
The Volokh Conspiracy
With the Economy Sputtering, Obama Must Allow High-Skilled Immigrants
In the heated immigration debate, a bright spot has emerged—the bipartisan consensus that high-skilled immigrants benefit the economy. Yet even as Congressional Democrats and Republicans…
The Volokh Conspiracy
Southern Californians looking for answers during first presidential debate
From an editorial that also appeared in The Pasadena Star-News and The Whittier Daily News: David Bier, a policy analyst with the libertarian Competitive…
Blog
Lose The Helmet Already
So now we’re down to safe v. healthy. The “safe” approach to riding a bike is to wear a helmet, according to the Nanny Statists…
Blog
Obama Administration Sent Guns To Drug Cartels
The Obama administration's botched Operation Fast and Furious, which provided weapons used in hundreds of crimes and killing sprees in Mexico, was broader than…
Blog
Teachers Union Fights School Choice With Discredited Study In Washington State
Right now, Washington is one of nine states that does not allow charter schools to compete with the public school system. That could change this…
The Volokh Conspiracy
No Real Differences Between Presidential Candidates on Immigration
“On Immigration, Obama and Romney Agree on Virtually Nothing,” declares a recent ABC News headline. The story strings together quotes from President Obama and Republican…
Blog
Big Labor’s Midwest Offensive
Yesterday in the St. Paul, Minnesota, Pioneer Press, my colleague Russ Pohl and I detail the current militant tactics used by Midwest public-sector unions that…
Blog
Unions Outgunning Opposition In Michigan
Organized labor is driving hard to enshrine collective bargaining right in Michigan State constitution. If Proposal 2 passes this November, they will have done…
Blog
TRUST Act Is An Important Stand Against Federal Immigration Policy
In a CNN column today, Jose Antonio Vargas calls California’s TRUST Act “the most important piece of legislation for immigrant communities this year.” Vargas…
Blog
Collective bargaining and government: A toxic brew
By Trey Kovacs and Russ Pohl, Pioneer Press What happens when special interests gain control of the public purse? Some recent events provide a…
Blog
Big Labor’s Midwest Offensive
Openmarket.org Yesterday in the St. Paul, Minnesota, Pioneer Press, my colleague Russ Pohl and I detail the current militant tactics used by Midwest public-sector unions…
The Volokh Conspiracy
Bill to Halt Unfair Deportations
From Jose Antonio Vargas’ article for CNN: Undocumented people and their allies — their relatives and friends, their neighbors and co-workers — have…
Blog
Saving The Game: Botched Calls And Legitimacy In The NFL
As a Seattle Seahawks fan living in Washington, D.C., I was excited for my team’s nationally televised Monday night game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Volokh Conspiracy
Collective bargaining and government: A toxic brew
What happens when special interests gain control of the public purse? Some recent events provide a clue. At the start of this school year, in…
Blog
In Rejecting EPIC’s Petition On TSA’s Strip-Search Machines, Court Effectively Orders Rulemaking Timetable
This afternoon, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) petition for writ of mandamus, which called on the court…
Blog
Driverless Cars Legalized In California
Just after 1pm PDT, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1298, which explicitly legalizes the use and testing of driverless cars in the…
Blog
Work ‘til You Drop: Is This The Next European “Welfare?”
As Europe’s population ages, its widespread entitlement commitments will generate huge burdens on governments’ budgets. The economic consequences are easy to foresee: just think of…
Blog
State Pension Bailout Threat
The state pension underfunding crisis has grown so severe that it has prompted most U.S. states to cut benefits, according to calculations by The…
Daily Caller
Field of cash: If you offer, they will take
It has become a familiar ritual. Wealthy professional sports team owners ask state and local governments to subsidize their venues, threatening to skip town if…
Blog
State Capitalism Or Corporatism? Italy’s Carmaker Conundrum
Italy’s iconic car manufacturer, Fiat, announced Saturday its plans to keep its production base in Italy after months of threatening to leave for more…
Blog
Chicago strike shows unions corrupt teachers, harm students
The Washington Examiner Americans like teachers. We like to think of public school teachers as kindly, idealistic men and women nurturing rows of attentive,…
Daily Caller
Chicago strike shows unions corrupt teachers, harm students
Americans like teachers. We like to think of public school teachers as kindly, idealistic men and women nurturing rows of attentive, wide-eyed youths with the…
Blog
Teacher Unions Celebrate Another Victory For The “Greater” Good
While teacher unions are succeeding in bankrupting Chicago, the teacher unions of Wisconsin are trying to bankrupt the entire state in the name of getting…
Blog
PATTERSON AND BROWN: Unions stack the deck against job creation
By Matt Patterson and Chrissy Brown, The Washington Times If you build it, jobs will come. That’s what Marylanders are being promised in the…
Daily Caller
Unions stack the deck against job creation
If you build it, jobs will come. That’s what Marylanders are being promised in the push to build a new casino, the state’s sixth, in…
Blog
Wall Street Journal: Obama Administration Undermined Welfare Reform’s Work Requirements
"The Administration has made welfare's work requirements far weaker," explains The Wall Street Journal in a detailed editorial today: an HHS regulatory "information…
Daily Caller
America’s Founders Supported Immigration
As Americans celebrated the 225th anniversary of the Constitution’s signing this Monday, thousands of new citizens at naturalization ceremonies across the country celebrated being Americans…
Blog
Can We Please Have A Grownup Discussion About Distracted Driving?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a new study on distracted driving [PDF]. According to the agency, 9 percent of total…
Blog
As Union Popularity Fades, A Fight For Power Threatens Michigan
The major focus on issues involving public sector unions right now is the current teachers’ strike in Chicago. Now that the strike is in…
Blog
Striking: Right Or Privilege?
As the Chicago teachers’ strike is entering its second week, Mayor Emanuel has pledged to seek an injunction with the court to force instructors back…
Blog
The Sad, Early History Of Railroad Regulation: From Subsidies To Nationalization
CEI has long made it its mission to highlight to downsides and dangers of economic regulation. One classic example is the experience with America's railroads…
Blog
Wisconsin Judge to Voters: “Drop Dead”
Openmarket.org Who needs elections when you have judges? In Wisconsin, the voters have decided to reform their state’s collective bargaining laws. They did so…
Blog
Wisconsin Judge To Voters: “Drop Dead”
Who needs elections when you have judges? In Wisconsin, the voters have decided to reform their state's collective bargaining laws. They did so by, 1)…
Blog
The Teachers’ Union Strikes Back
American Thinker A short time ago, in a city not so very far away, an insidious organization hijacked an entire school system, putting the…
Blog
Chicago Teachers Strike: A Lesson Of “Excessive Zeal And No Brains”
On September 10, 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) walked out of the city’s public schools after negotiations fell through with Chicago Mayor Rahm…
Blog
Chicago Teachers Union: Overpaid Babysitters?
Openmarket.org The grand themes of the current Chicago teacher’s strike opera are broadly similar to other union-agitated public work stoppages. The union makes demands (more money, etc.) the city/company balks…
Blog
Farms Need Workers, Not Subsidies
Reports of record farm profits has CNBC’s Senior Online Editor John Carney calling America’s agricultural labor shortage “phony,” and by implication, just an excuse…
Blog
Chicago Teachers Union: Overpaid Babysitters?
The grand themes of the current Chicago teacher's strike opera are broadly similar to other union-agitated public work stoppages. The union makes demands (more money, etc.) the city/company balks ("We can't…
Blog
Unions Seek To Make Michigan A Mediterranean State
On September 5, the Michigan Supreme Court gave a green light to the so-called “Protect our Jobs Amendment” (POJA) for the November 6 ballot. The proposed…
Daily Caller
Low-Skilled Immigrant Workers Are Vital Contributors To The Economy
The Republican National Committee reformed its immigration platform this month to favor a new guest worker program. Unfortunately, the party still seems unwilling to accept…
Daily Caller
TRUST Act Deceit: Federal Government Deceives Sheriffs Into Detaining Immigrants
“It’s pretty simple: federal law pre-empts state law.” That was Steve Whitmore, spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, describing why the county…
Blog
Lawmaker Bullies Employer Because Its Employee Supported Gay Marriage
Maryland State Delegate Emmett Burns (D-Baltimore), who has a long record of hostility to business (a 90 percent bad MBRG rating), gave more evidence of that…
Blog
Federal Government: Fire Good Employees, Hire Bad Ones
The Obama administration is pressuring employers outside the financial sector to hire felons, even as its regulations force employers in the financial sector to fire "thousands…
Blog
Collective Bargaining: Mythical Right Turned Constitutional In Michigan?
Everyone knows that our Founding Fathers’ primary motive during the revolution was to preserve collective bargaining for the carriage industries. That as Washington crossed the…
Blog
Fact Checking Lilly Ledbetter’s False Speech At The Democratic National Convention
Former pay-discrimination plaintiff Lilly Ledbetter, in speaking at the Democratic National Convention on September 4, repeated the false claim that she learned about the…
Blog
CEI Podcast For September 6, 2012: Modernizing Air Traffic Control
America's air traffic control system can be charitably described as an antique. Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner describes some of the problems the…
Blog
Modernizing Air Traffic Control In The United States
In The Washington Examiner, a story citing me provides an overview of where the United States is in modernizing its air traffic control system.