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
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)…
News Release
Escalating trade war with China won’t fix the need for reform: CEI analysis
On Monday, China vowed to retaliate against nations that corporate with President Trump’s tariffs against Beijing, putting potential trade deals between the US and other…
Search Posts
Blog
TSA Trifecta
First, a TSA manager at Dulles airport has been arrested for running a prostitution ring. Second, two Miami TSA employees were arrested for trashing a…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 29, 2012: The History of American Immigration in Six Minutes
Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh talks about the reasons behind the major historical shifts, and suggests reforms that would make today's immigration system fairer and…
Citation
Will Congress Stop NLRB?
Imagine an election in which one candidate may campaign for a year while the other is only allowed to enter the race a week before…
Op-Eds
Will Congress Stop NLRB?
Imagine an election in which one candidate may campaign for a year while the other is only allowed to enter the race a week before…
Op-Eds
The Founders’ Immigration Policy
Today is the anniversary of the passage of America’s first immigration and naturalization law, the Naturalization Act of 1790. Passed in the first Congress, it…
Forbes
Ma Bell’s Long Legacy of Unsustainable Pensions Is Alive and Well
“Communism,” comedian Lenny Bruce once quipped, “is like one big phone company.” This dated joke refers to the monolithic phone company known as “Ma Bell,”…
Blog
Rhode Island Pension Reform Shows Boldness Pays
Across the nation, large and growing budget deficits have forced politicians from across the political spectrum, including some Democrats, to seek to bring public employee…
Blog
Department of Labor Companionship Rule Doesn’t Comply with Best Practices
Openmarket.org Last Wednesday, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein sent a memo to executive agency heads concerning the cumulative effects of regulation…
Blog
The $400 Pizza
The reason it cost $400 was not because of restaurant business practices but because of television labor practices.
Blog
Department of Labor Companionship Rule Doesn’t Comply with Best Practices
Last Wednesday, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Cass Sunstein sent a memo to executive agency heads concerning the cumulative effects of…
News Release
Obama Admits Postponing Policy Solutions Until After Election
Washington, D.C., March 26, 2012 – Oops. President Obama was caught Monday on a live microphone asking outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for more…
Forbes
Civil Rights or Dues: The Truth Behind the UAW Protests of H.B. 56
This month, the United Auto Workers (UAW) bussed out-of-state activists into Alabama to protest what they describe as several car companies’ insufficiently strong opposition to…
Blog
Some Good News on Pensions, for a Change
Over the last four years, state governments across the nation have been trying to bring their labor costs under control, especially pensions, which are now…
Blog
National Debt Skyrockets Under Obama, Far Faster Than Under Bush
CBS News finally reports the obvious: the national debt increased more in President Obama’s first three years in office than in the entire eight years of…
Forbes
NLRB Touts Union Election Record
From Michael P. Tremoglie’s article on LegalNewsLine: Vincent Vernuccio is the Labor Policy Counsel at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. He found the NLRB’s…
Blog
AFSCME leadership fight will shape public employee union future
Warren Brookes Journalism Fellow Matthew Patterson Featured in The Washington Examiner Unions are salivating at the opportunity to take down their arch-nemesis, Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott…
Forbes
AFSCME Leadership Fight Will Shape Public Employee Union
Unions are salivating at the opportunity to take down their arch-nemesis, Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker. Last year, Walker curtailed the collective bargaining power of Wisconsin’s…
Blog
Bill Clinton’s Economic Nationalism
Over at RealClearPolicy, I recently reviewed Bill Clinton’s latest book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy. You can…
Blog
House Should Reject Senate Highway Bill, Move for Another SAFETEA-LU Extension
Just before 1pm today, the Senate passed its surface transportation reauthorization bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21, S. 1813). MAP-21…
Blog
Student Loans: America’s Next Debt Bomb
I understated things earlier when I wrote that the student loan bubble “may” explode in taxpayers’ faces, as law professor Glenn Reynolds pointed…
Forbes
Immigration Restrictions Incentivize Corruption
The allegations surrounding Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu and his attorney Chris DeRose are what tabloid writers dream of. It’s got it all: a…
Blog
If PBGC Cannot Go On Taking Over Pensions, It Will Stop
Herbert Stein’s law — “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop” — is being proven right once again. This time, what cannot go…
Washington Times
Raising the Tipped Minimum Wage Does More Harm Than Good
Politicians and interest groups playing the gender card to push their agendas is nothing new. But recently, it seems to be getting harder, as they…
Washington Times
Economic Rebound in Doubt as 10 Percent of All US Workers Employed Just ‘Part-Time’
From Gene J. Koprowski’s article in The Daily Caller: “The ‘recovery’ is weak and may sputter,” Hans Bader, a scholar and economics expert…
Blog
Higher Education Bubble May Explode in Taxpayers’ Faces
"61 percent of folks with a student loan are not paying," notes Andrew Gillen, Ph.D., of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. Many…
Blog
Structural Factors of the Municipal Pension Crisis
Public employee pensions are sinking local governments. Over the last four years, they have even pushed some municipalities into bankruptcy -- from Vallejo, California, to Central…
Blog
Ma Bell Is Long Gone, but Her Pension Costs Remain
AT&T is asking the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents a large segment of its workforce, for benefit concessions, as it tries to rein…
Blog
Senate Should Reject Anti-Tolling Highway Bill Amendment
I previously wrote about Sen. Herb Kohl’s (D-Wisc.) terrible amendment to the Senate’s MAP-21 bill that would allow the Department of Justice and Federal…
Washington Times
Is Your Company Ready to Meet its New Disability Hiring Quota?
Has the economy got you worried about reelection? Looking for clever ways to showcase your bona fides as a promoter of “fairness,” champion of the…
Blog
European Union Pushes Discriminatory Gender Quotas for Corporate Boards
The European Union (EU) could not keep member states like Greece from cheating on EU budget rules, resulting in Greece's fiscal collapse and the current…
Blog
Pension Funds are For-Profit
Openmarket.org California’s Constitution clearly states the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s (CalPERS) singular motive is to make profits. I point this out in “Mixing Pensions…
Blog
Pension Funds are For-Profit
California’s Constitution clearly states the California Public Employees' Retirement System's (CalPERS) singular motive is to make profits. I point this out in “Mixing Pensions with…
Blog
Trey Kovacs: Mixing pensions with politics
Labor Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs Featured in The Orange County Register Who here is better to run a business? In 2011, Apple recorded a net…
Blog
Obama Administration Seeks Quotas Based on Disability, Race, and Perhaps Sexual Orientation
The Obama administration is pushing quotas in the workplace and higher education, seeking to force businesses that have federal contracts to hire at least…
Washington Times
Liberals Need to Choose: Welfare State or Immigration
Overcoming the costs of the welfare state is the biggest challenge faced by proponents of immigration reform. The perception that immigrants use and abuse the…
Washington Times
The Autoworkers Obama Left Behind
From Michelle Malkin’s column: Thanks to a separate Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, we already know that…
Washington Times
Mixing Pensions With Politics
Who here is better to run a business? In 2011, Apple recorded a net profit of $6.62 billion and its highest September earnings ever. The…
Blog
CEI Podcast for March 1, 2012: A Highway Bill Everyone Can Hate
Land-Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner explains why almost nobody is happy with how this year's highway bill is turning out.
Blog
UAW: Building taxpayer burdens
By Trey Kovacs and F. Vincent Vernuccio, The Washington Times President Obama and United Auto Workers(UAW) President Bob King are touting the “achievement” of the auto…
Capital Research
The Battle for New England
Full Document Available in PDF New England is generally considered among the most leftleaning regions of the country. This perception is largely…
Capital Research
Letter to the Editor: What Is the Place of Unions Today?
Richard D. Kahlenberg and Moshe Z. Marvit argue that unionization should be legally recognized as a civil right. They are correct that freedom of association…
Capital Research
UAW: Building Taxpayer Burdens
President Obama and United AutPresident Obama and United Auto Workers (UAW) President Bob King are touting the “achievement” of the auto bailouts while slamming Republicans…
Blog
Think of the Children
Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, has alleged that Rahm Emanuel privately told her that “25 percent of the students in this…
Blog
Airline Carbon Taxes: The EU vs. the World
On Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives from 23 nations gathered in Moscow to discuss their response to the European Union’s mandatory airline carbon taxes. CEI’s Fran…
Blog
Workers Deserve the Right to Remain Silent
Openmarket.org The California Legislature is considering a “Public Employee Bill of Rights” that (among other things) would restrict the state’s ability to hire outside contractors…
Blog
Workers Deserve the Right to Remain Silent
The California Legislature is considering a “Public Employee Bill of Rights” that (among other things) would restrict the state’s ability to hire outside contractors and…
Forbes
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Real Crisis
On February 1, American Airlines—which declared bankruptcy last November—announced plans to end defined benefit pensions as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring plan. If approved…
Forbes
An Unintended Consequence
From George Leef’s post on the National Review Online: Thanks to the college-for-everyone mania, we have a shortage of workers capable for doing…
Blog
Severe Shortage of Skilled Factory Workers As Government Encourages Students to Pursue White-Collar Jobs
The government has encouraged people who once would have become skilled and valuable factory workers to instead go to college and work in white-collar jobs, contributing…
Blog
Government-Funded Job Training “Might Not Work”: Washington Post
Even a liberal Washington Post writer admits that taxpayer-subsidized job training “might not work,” despite its popularity with politicians, and President Obama’s desire to spend billions more…
Blog
Is the Obama Administration Trying to Expand Federal Collective Bargaining?
An Obama-created board within the federal Office of Personnel Management's recently approved "an outline of a report due to President Obama in May on personnel issues…
Blog
Connecticut Government Focuses on Non-Union Worker Collective Bargaining “Options”
Yesterday, the next step toward Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy completing his scheme to force unionize personal care attendants took place. CTNewsJunkie.com reported: The four-member…
Blog
I Can Succeed, But You Can’t: The Left’s Message to Waitresses
One of the left’s favorite mantras is that government regulations and special interest groups provide the only ways that workers can get ahead. This notion…
Blog
High Unemployment Masked by Exploding Disability Claims that Lead to Permanently-Higher Government Spending
The official unemployment rate is going down, but that's partly because many long-term unemployed people went onto Social Security Disability, citing ailments such as depression. …
Forbes
Bringing Democracy Back to the Workplace
Imagine a presidential election in which one candidate may campaign for a year and the other is told he is running only one week before…
Blog
California Considers “Public Employee Bill of Rights”
Openmarket.org The California State Assembly is considering sweeping legislation aimed at protecting the “rights” of state employees. According to its sponsor, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento),…
Blog
California Considers “Public Employee Bill of Rights”
The California State Assembly is considering sweeping legislation aimed at protecting the “rights” of state employees. According to its sponsor, Assemblyman Roger Dickinson…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 210: Transgendered Air Travelers
Canada is cracking down on the latest terrorist threat to innocent people everywhere: transgendered people. If their appearance doesn't match their ID's listed gender, they're…
Blog
Regulation, Jobs, and Creating Wealth
Lobbying, politicking, and special favors are part and parcel of the regulatory process. The result is that many regulation-created jobs are not created on the…
Blog
Lame Duck Sen. Herb Kohl Continues Quixotic Battle Against Rail Carriers in Senate Highway Bill
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), who will not be seeking reelection this November, decided that he would make one last-ditch attempt to get his awful piece…
Forbes
Ayn Rand Was an Illegal Immigrant
From Shika Dalmia’s article in Reason: Yes, every nation has the right to control its borders. But both liberal and illiberal immigration policies…
Forbes
Free Cupcakes! GOP Hispanic Super PAC Reaches Out
From Pema Levy’s article in Talking Points Memo: The next morning, four panelists met in the hotel’s main ballroom to discuss immigration. The…
The American Spectator
Busting Union Reform
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is touting the recent passage of his "compromise" bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that oversees U.S. air…
The American Spectator
Calls for ‘Self-Deportation’ of Illegal Immigrants Win Applause at Conservative Conference
The American Spectator
CPAC Panelist Booed for Speaking Truth on Immigration
The American Spectator
CPAC, Immigration, and Racism Accusations
The American Spectator
Co-Author of Arizona Immigration Law Says Self-Deportation Working
Blog
CEI Podcast for February 9, 2012: The Immigration Tariff
Alex Nowrasteh proposes scrapping the complex and unfair immigration system and replacing it with a tariff. This is a much more humane approach to immigration,…
The American Spectator
Immigration Tariff: Improve System, Shrink Budget Gap
Of the public policy problems most Americans worry about, there are two that seem intractable. The first is the federal budget deficit. The second is…
The American Spectator
U.S. Sen. Johnson Says Obama “Not Someone We Can Compromise With”
The American Spectator
CPAC Speaker Goads Pro-Union, Occupy Protestors
The American Spectator
At CPAC, Undermining the Power of American Workers
The American Spectator
Afternoon News Brief
Blog
Even Liberal Reporters Sour on Stimulus-Funded California Rail Boondoggle
Even reporters at the famously-liberal Los Angeles Times have soured on California’s $100 billion-plus rail boondoggle, whose cost will far outstrip whatever the state will…
Washington Examiner
SEIU Makes Play for ‘Dues’ From Conn. Subsidy
From The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential (also appeared on the National Right to Work Committee website and The Oklahoman): The Service Employees International…
Washington Examiner
Vincent Vernuccio explains the union’s latest method of recruitment.
Vincent Vernuccio explains the union's the latest method of forcing home healthcare and daycare workers into their unions…
Study
The Conservative Case for Immigration Tariffs
The current immigration system is a complex bureaucracy that sets quotas, fees, and arbitrary restrictions that prevent most immigrants from attempting legal immigration. Replacing that…
Washington Examiner
Rome vs. the Unions
Relative to Italy’s debt problems, the country’s biggest impediment to growth gets relatively little international press. Burdensome labor regulations are nothing new to Italians. But…
Washington Examiner
Employment Law Roundup: Retaliation Charges Pose Growing Threat to Free Speech
Washington Examiner
Keystone and the Unions
President Barack Obama placated one wing of his liberal base, environmentalists, with his decision to kill the Keystone Pipeline, but he’s angered another — labor…
News Release
Immigration Tariffs Are Cost-Effective Solution to Illegal Immigration Problem
Washington, D.C., February 7, 2012 – In a new CEI OnPoint, Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh proposes an innovative solution to our nation’s…
Blog
Yes, Pensions Did Help Push American Airlines into Bankruptcy
I generally hold John Tamny’s analysis of economic matters in high regard, so I was surprised to find his take on the American Airlines bankruptcy…
News Release
Free Market Policy Organizations Push Back Against Stealth Unionization Campaign
Washington, DC, February 6, 2012 – The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is trying to unionize home health care workers in Connecticut by stealth—and Governor Dannel…
Washington Examiner
Alinksy Disciple Obama Does the Master Proud
Polls show that, even as his job approval ratings have struggled against continued grim economic news, majorities nonetheless find President Obama personally likable.
Washington Examiner
Could Indiana’s Right to Work Law Mean Trouble for Neighboring States?
Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois soon may need to construct a wall—not to keep people out but to keep business in. While such a drastic move…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 208: Re-Booking Flights
A new Department of Transportation regulation limiting re-booking fees caused one airline to add a $2 "Department of Transportation Unintended Consequences Fee" on every ticket…
Blog
Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Openmarket.org Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through…
Blog
12 More Law Schools Sued for Defrauding Their Students; Many More Class-Action Lawsuits Expected
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a team of eight law firms have just “sued a dozen more law schools across the country,…
Blog
Oklahoma Moves to Keep Big Labor in Check
Oklahoma taxpayers might be able to breathe a little bit easier this year thanks to two important pieces of legislation making their way through the…
Washington Examiner
NY’s Still Too Business-Unfriendly
News Release
Competitive Enterprise Institute Applauds Indiana Enactment of Right to Work
Washington, DC, February 1, 2012 – Indiana today enacted a crucial, hard-fought right-to-work law prohibiting labor contracts that force workers to pay for union representation.
Blog
Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Openmarket.org Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim.
Blog
Michigan SEIU Scam the Product of Government Collective Bargaining
Proponents of government collective bargaining view it as a fundamental human right. The shameful actions of SEIU in Michigan, however, undermine this claim. In…
Blog
More Bailouts for Speculators and Delinquent Mortgage Borrowers from Obama Administration; More Taxpayer Money for Certain Banks
In his State of the Union address, President Obama, a consistent supporter of bailouts and crony capitalism, hypocritically railed against them, proclaiming, “no…
Blog
Buffett’s Secretary, Romney’s Return, and the Crushing Double Taxation on Investment Income
There has been much waxing in the last few days about how unfair it supposedly is that Mitt Romney was taxed at around 15 percent.
Blog
Enr1 Goes Belly Up; Yet Another Solyndra
"After spending $55 million of a $118.5 million grant from" the U.S. "Department of Energy, Ener1, an Indianapolis-based maker of batteries," has just "declared…
Huffington Post
Could Our Immigration Laws Prevent the Next Google?
While President Obama’s State of the Union address did not focus on immigration, his few statements on that issue sent out…
Huffington Post
It’s Politics: Linda Sanchez Wins Key Step Toward Democratic Party Endorsement
Blog
The Silver Platypus
Openmarket.org Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was…
Blog
The Silver Platypus
Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced it was considering scrapping the Silver Line stop at Dulles Airport. Though the Silver line was designed…
