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
![Union leaders need Trump more than he needs them](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/strike_ThinkstockPhotos-91644706_0-578x324-c-default.jpg)
Blog
Union leaders need Trump more than he needs them
Credit where credit is due, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien faced a tricky tightrope walk when he spoke before the Republican National Convention…
![The Supreme Court sends warning shot to NLRB](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1280px-US_Supreme_Court_Building-578x324-c-default.jpg)
Blog
The Supreme Court sends warning shot to NLRB
Only one of the Supreme Court’s cases this term dealt directly with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), but several addressed the broader question of…
![June jobs report indicate hiring slowdown: CEI analysis](https://cei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-613537246-578x324-c-default.jpg)
News Release
June jobs report indicate hiring slowdown: CEI analysis
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released June’s jobs numbers which reported an addition of 206,000 jobs to the economy compared to May’s…
Search Posts
Real Clear Policy
Congress, Reject Labor Department’s Overtime Rule
The Obama administration publicly touts the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule as a boon for workers. But the rule, which dramatically raises the salary…
Daily Caller
Republicans Move To Block Obama’s Overtime Rule
The Daily Caller discusses the impact of Department of Labor's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. Salaried workers could lose their ability to…
One News Now
Higher minimum wage not a panacea for all
One News Now discusses the effects of minimum wage and collective bargaining policies on the poor with Ryan Young. Ryan Young of the…
Blog
RealClear Radio Hour: Fighting Injustice & Igniting Prosperity
This week on RealClear Radio Hour, professors Stephanos Bibas and Donald Boudreaux discuss injustice in the plea bargain system and the dangers of the dismal…
Lexology
What do Employment Law and Skydiving have in common? Part I: The Big Picture
Lexology cites Trey Kovacs on the Department of Labor's policy objectives behind the overtime pay rule. There were two policy objectives set forth…
Blog
Attorney General Lynch Refuses to Defend Law to Speedily Terminate Wrongdoers
Attorney General refuses to defend law passed by Congress to speedily terminate wrongdoers One of an Attorney General’s fundamental duties is to defend laws passed…
Blog
Administration’s War on Work Reflected in Jobs Numbers
The administration and its allies are currently engaged in a regulatory onslaught on employers that can only be described as a war on work. Today’s…
National Review
Meet Tom Perez
National Review discusses the work of Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez, with Iain Murray. Iain Murray, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s vice president of strategy,…
Blog
NLRB Downplays Pro-Union Threats
Union bias permeates the actions of the current National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is hardly surprising since a former union lawyer, Richard Griffin,…
Blog
Unions and Environmentalists Oppose Plan to Address California’s Rising Housing Costs
Everyone’s for affordable housing—except, it seems, some unions and environmentalists. On May 18, a coalition of unions and environmental advocacy groups—including the State Building &…
National Review
“Income Inequality” – Missing the Point
President Obama, Paul Krugman tells us, has declared war on income inequality. In fact, income inequality is at the root of just about everything…
Citation
VIDEO: Trey Kovacs cited on The McLaughlin Group
[VIDEO::https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEMWnVEiVGY::aVideoStyle]…
Blog
White House Supports Bill that Exempts Puerto Rico from New Overtime Regulation
Progressives praised the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule as a way to fatten workers’ pockets and a means to strengthen the middle class. If…
Washington Examiner
States constitutions can rein in union subsidy
On May 10, the Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could provide a roadmap to eliminate a persistent form of government…
Daily Caller
Former DOL Administrator Bashes Obama’s Overtime Rule
The Daily Caller discusses the Department of Labor's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. Salaried workers could lose their ability to work flexible work…
Fox News
Surprise, surprise, Obama’s new overtime rule was never intended to raise your wages
The Obama administration claims that millions of salaried workers will get a raise under the new Department of Labor overtime rule. But a wage increase…
Watchdog.org
Experts say Obama’s overtime rule will hit taxpayers, economy hard
Wisconsin Watchdog.org discusses the Obama administration's overtime pay rule with Trey Kovacs. “This extra income will not only mean a better life for…
Blog
How the Overtime Rule Hopes to Design Higher Salaries, But Can’t
The Labor Department has just issued a new regulation for overtime pay for salaried employees. Under the new rule, all salaried workers earning less than…
USA Today
Millions more Americans to be eligible for overtime pay
USA Today discusses the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. “The Obama rule puts a huge cost and regulatory burden on…
U.S. News & World Report
Obama’s Overtime Rule Raises Pay for Millions
U.S. News & World Report discusses the coalition letter headed by CEI urging Congress to take action against the overtime pay rule. The Competitive…
News Release
CEI Labor Expert Warns of Negative Consequences for Obama Overtime Pay Mandate
The Labor Department is set to issue its final rule expanding a federal mandate on employers for overtime pay. The overtime rule makes more salaried…
Blog
Free Market Organizations Call on Congress to Block the DOL Overtime Rule
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute along with 16 other organizations sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity…
The Guardian
Millions could get a raise under Obama administration’s new overtime rules
The Guardian reports on CEI's coalition letter urging Congress to take action against the Department of Labor's harmful overtime rule. A coalition of…
Washington Examiner
White House aims to force firms to pay more overtime
Washington Examiner discusses the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. Critics said that rather than paying out more overtime, many businesses…
Daily Caller
Here’s Why Obama’s Upcoming Overtime Rule Faces Fierce Opposition
The Daily Caller discusses the coalition letter CEI headed up to urge Congress to take action against the Obama administration's overtime rule. Managers…
News Release
CEI Leads Coalition Urging Congress to Reject Obama Overtime Rule
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today sent a coalition letter to Congress urging support for S. 2707 and H.R. 4773, the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act –…
Blog
Air Traffic Control Reform Opponents Still Miss the Big Picture, Repeat Errors
Air traffic control is in dire need of reform and modernization, and there is a great plan in the House FAA bill to do just…
Blog
Members-Only Unions Benefits Unions and Individual Workers
There has been a surge in right-to-work laws over the past couple of years. Since 2012, four states (Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and West Virginia) revoked…
Daily Caller
Unprecedented Overtime Expansion Likely To Send Business Leaders Into Payroll Damage Control
The Daily Caller discusses the impact of the Department of Labor's overtime rule with Trey Kovacs. "These small businesses, who may not be…
Blog
Small Businesses and Nonprofits Ill-Equipped to Handle DOL’s Overtime Rule
The Department of Labor's overtime rule may be published as early as next week. The rule's "one-size-fits-all" nature is set to harm small businesses the…
Blog
Conservatives for Big Government: Air Traffic Control Reform Opponents Have Lost Their Minds or Principles
UPDATE: Diana Furchtgott-Roth has responded. I offer my reply. Right now in Congress, there is a proposal to end a government monopoly, replace…
Blog
Seattle Regulators Go After Rideshare Driver Privacy
Today, I have a column up at FEE.org on the need for classical liberals to make financial privacy as important an aspect of their…
Blog
Companies May Scrutinize Employee Activity More under DOL’s Proposed Overtime Rule
The battle over the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule is heating up. A number of business groups, labor unions, and progressive organizations have met…
Blog
Congress Needs to Halt DOL Regulatory Onslaught
Last week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) called out recent Department of Labor policies as having a “chilling effect” on the economy. Ryan’s statements were…
One News Now
Labor representative reporting rule burdens businesses
One News Now discusses the Department of Labor's "persuader rule" with Ivan Osorio. Critics refer to this latest effort as “the persuader rule” and…
Blog
Why Is Employee Involvement an Unfair Labor Practice?
U.S. labor law is largely based on the false narrative of an inequality of bargaining power between employees and employers. The theory goes that an…
The Hill
Department of labor overtime rule is a roadblock to a bright career path
Obama labor regulators are touting a plan to boost wages, but unfortunately for people living in the real world, it’s a bill of false goods.
Blog
A Diverse Collection of Stakeholders Oppose the DOL’s Overtime Rule, Really
The Huffington Post recently ran a piece entitled, “Who Opposes Overtime Pay Increase, Really?” The author, Harlan Green, publisher at PopularEconomics.com, says, “That’s a…
Blog
Give Job Seekers a Break: Get Government Out of the Licensing Business
Public policy easing union organizing is not an economic cure-all, and really wouldn’t help at all—no matter how many times union-backed politicians say so (see…
Blog
Labor Department’s “Persuader Rule” Gives Unfair Advantage to Unions
The Department of Labor’s “persuader rule,” which is set to go into effect on Monday, April 25, will give unions a new tool to…
Blog
Easing Union Organizing Won’t Fix the Economy
Most progressive policy makers view labor unions as the panacea that would address the problem of stagnate wages and disappearing middle class. A proposal to…
Detroit News
NLRB rule threatens worker right to privacy
The National Labor Relations Board, charged with conducting private-sector union elections, is now implementing an “ambush election” rule overhauling the union election process. The rule…
Blog
Employment Lawsuits for Thee, But Not for Me
The New York Times loves legislation that restricts employment-at-will, and it loves to increase penalties for employers who don’t hire and promote in…
Blog
California Court’s Indefensible Defense of Dysfunctional Education Policies
A California appeals court yesterday restored a series of education policies that harm students by making ineffective teachers extremely difficult to fire. The court…
Blog
NLRB Puts Stamp of Approval on Harassment in the Workplace
Around 80 years ago, Congress created the National Labor Relations Board to bring stability to labor relations in the private sector. The current iteration of…
Blog
Pay Gap Myths Spread Around Equal Pay Day
In the lead up to Equal Pay Day this month, supporters of more federal pay regulations promoted myths about the pay gap between men and…
CNS News
Coercive Union Power Can Still Be Abated Despite SCOTUS Decision in Friedrichs
Public sector workers in over 20 states must continue paying union dues, like it or not, after the Supreme Court deadlocked in Friedrichs v California…
Blog
Union Bosses Order Verizon Workers to Strike
Today, union bosses ordered 36,000 Verizon workers on the east coast to strike. Nearly all of these employees, 99 percent, service the Verizon…
WMAL
36,000 Verizon workers go on strike
WMAL discusses the Verizon workers strike with Trey Kovacs. As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Trey Kovacs puts it, the unions aren’t looking at…
Blog
PBGC’s Perverse Incentives Undermine Multiemployer Pensions
For years, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures private sector defined benefit (DB) pension plans, has been severely underfunded below…