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
Inflation increased by 0.2 percent in November but year-over-year inflation remains above the Fed’s target
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for November showed a 0.2 percent increase in inflation across all sectors, lower than market expectations. But the…
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,…
Search Posts
Blog
Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. Employees Set Record Straight on Working for Andy Puzder
This week employees of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. described their experiences working for CKE Restaurants, where Secretary of Labor-designate Andrew Puzder is CEO.
Blog
Congress Puts Dept. of Labor’s Blacklisting Rule in Crosshairs
Congress is taking a first step in rolling back parts of the Obama administration’s costly red-tape put out by the Department of Labor.
InsideSources
Labor Secretary Nominee Faces Battle Between His Own Employees
InsideSources reports on a CEI led letter to the Senate in support of Andrew Puzder as the next labor secretary. Democratic lawmakers and…
Blog
Free-Market Groups Urge Senate to Confirm Labor Nominee Puzder
A coalition of 17 free-market groups is urging the Senate to confirm Andrew Puzder as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Washington Examiner
Conservative groups urge Puzder’s confirmation for Labor secretary
Washington Examiner reports on a letter CEI and other free market groups sent the Senate urging them to confirm labor nominee Andrew Puzder. …
Politico
Puzder’s mob-lawyer mentor: OK, Enough Immigration News
Politico’s Morning Shift reports on a CEI led letter to Congress supporting Andrew Puzder’s nomination for Labor secretary. A coalition of 17 pro-business…
InsideSources
Free-Market Coalition Urges Senate to Approve Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick
InsideSources reports on a CEI led letter urging Senate to approve Andrew Puzder for labor secretary. A coalition of free-market groups sent a…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition In Support of Trump Labor Secretary Andrew Puzder
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senators: On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our members, we write to express our strong…
Blog
Union Membership Hits Rock Bottom
Union membership is on the decline, in part, because many labor unions have become reliant on government to ease union organizing rather than providing value…
News Release
CEI Praises Trump Pick for National Labor Relations Board
Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Trey Kovacs praised President Trump’s pick to head the National Labor Relations Board, which is an independent federal agency…
American Legislative Exchange Council
Missouri May Become Model State for Government Union Labor Relations
A right-to-work bill making its way through Missouri’s legislature is generating most of the labor-related headlines in the Show-Me state. However, government union reform legislation…
Blog
Federal Officials Should Reopen Investigations of Union Activist ‘Worker Centers’
It is certainly time to reinvestigate the issue of “worker centers,” which operate outside of the traditional boundaries of labor law.
Blog
Wasteful Spending, Minimum Wage Hike Fuel California Budget Deficit
California’s projected budget deficit is rising, but that could have been avoided by curtailing wasteful spending.
Blog
Obama’s Labor Legacy: Overreach and Overregulation
In the past eight years, the Department of Labor has consistently pushed the boundaries of its authority. The agency’s overreach greatly restricted how people work,…
Blog
‘Corporate Campaign’ Deployed against Labor Secretary Nominee Puzder
Democrats, labor unions, and their allies have deployed a coordinated attack against President-elect Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor nominee, Andrew Puzder.
Blog
Union Front Groups Deploy Dishonest Tactics against Nominee Puzder
Pro-union activist groups are pulling out all the stops to derail the nomination of Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, to head the Department of…
Daily Caller
Labor Unions Deploy Dishonest Tactics, Paid Protesters Against Trump’s DOL Nominee
The Daily Caller discusses with Trey Kovacs union-backed groups’ dishonest tactics against Department of Labor head nominee Andrew Puzder. The dishonest tactics employed…
The Hill
Use Holman Rule on federal employees that work full-time for union
Last week, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) resurrected a little-known procedural rule that allows lawmakers to slash a federal employee’s pay to $1. What is known…
Blog
Best of the Blog 2016
Certain topics were especially popular with readers in 2016.
Blog
Five New Year’s Resolutions for a New Administration
Now is the perfect time for members of the incoming Trump administration to reflect on where America is and set policy goals for the coming…
Blog
Must-Have Gifts for America’s Wish List
It isn’t Christmas Day yet, much to the chagrin of impatient youngsters, but it’s already time for America to put together a wish list for…
The Hill
Immigration Reform to be Discussed During Obama’s State of the Union Address; Critics Weigh in on Rubio’s E-Verify Work Plan
“Using employers as a fourth arm of the government is not the framework that the founders of this country envisioned when they created the Constitution,”…
Blue Grass Policy
Big Labor’s Making Us Offers We Can Refuse
Blue Grass Policy
CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers
Blue Grass Policy
CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers
Washington Examiner
How Congress can fix labor and employment laws in 2017
Reining in the top federal labor regulatory agencies should be a top priority for the new Congress. The National Labor Relations Board, created by Congress…
Blog
A Free Market Policy Agenda for the Trump Administration
CEI’s free market policy agenda for the incoming Trump administration is aimed at strengthening the economy and removing barriers to economic freedom in five key…
Study
First Steps for the Trump Administration: Unleash America’s Labor Force
View full document as PDF During the Obama administration the Department of Labor (DOL) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) failed to…
Blog
Labor and Employment Reforms for the Next Congress
In the arena of labor and employment policy, the next Congress has its hands full in reversing eight years of red-tape that unduly burdens the…
Blog
Court Strikes Down Another Unlawful Labor Rule
On December 12, 2016, the federal Northern District Court of Texas put the final nail in the coffin of the Department of Labor’s misguided persuader…
Washington Examiner
Court scraps Labor Department’s ‘persuader’ rule
Washington Examiner discusses a court ruling on the Department of Labor's "persuader rule" with Trey Kovacs. Trey Kovacs, labor policy analyst for…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Political Disasters in Science and Economics
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, Marc Edwards and Dan Liljenquist recount politically induced disasters from the perversion of science to the pension crisis.
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…
