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
Supreme Court likely to decide fate of federal unions
A matter likely to end up before the Supreme Court soon is the right of federal government employees to form unions. Whether they retain that…
Blog
‘With you or without you’ – The growing rift between unions and Democrats
A rift is growing between the Democratic Party and the labor movement. It was caused in large part by the party’s inability to move the…
News Release
Economy adds 139,000 jobs in May, labor market growth slows: CEI analysis
May added 139,000 jobs to the economy, with the unemployment rate staying unchanged at 4.2 percent. Trump’s policies, namely his mission to shrink the…
Search Posts
Blog
In Friedrichs v. CTA, Supreme Court Can Strike a Blow for Free Speech
Oral arguments in one of the most important Supreme Court labor cases in years are set for January 11, with potential major implications in the…
Blog
Promoting Economic Freedom in 2016
It was Marxists who wanted permanent revolution, but it is capitalists who have delivered it. The last 50 years have seen a sustained revolution in…
Washington Post
How to Keep Fairfax Teachers in the Classroom
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is facing a massive budget shortfall: $72 million for the 2016 school year. With such a large budget deficit,…
Blog
Protecting American Workers and Job Creators with the Omnibus
This week, Congress is working against the clock to avert a government shutdown and pass new spending legislation before the current continuing resolution expires on…
The Washington Examiner
Congress can rein in NLRB by withholding funds
Congress is facing a looming deadline. It needs to pass a bill by Dec. 11 to fund the government for the next fiscal year and…
Blog
Official Time and Criminal Misconduct by Federal Employees
With under two weeks until Congress must pass an omnibus spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, one policy that should be on the chopping…
Talk Radio News Service
Wednesday, December 2 – Union “release time” robs school coffers
Talk Radio News Service mentions Trey Kovacs' report on Fairfax County Public Schools' practice of "release time" which comes at the taxpayer's expense.
News Release
Deficit-Plagued Fairfax County Public Schools Waste Taxpayer Money On Labor Union Business, Report Finds
At a time when the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are experiencing a serious budget deficit, public school employees get paid by taxpayers to conduct…
Daily Caller
How To Reverse The Fairfax $5.8M Union Giveaway
The Daily Caller discusses Trey Kovacs' report, which explains the practice of "release time" for teachers to participate in union work and its costs to taxpayers . …
Study
A Remedy for Fairfax County’s Taxpayer Giveaway to Unions
Full Document Available in PDF Use of taxpayer funds should be reserved for purely public purposes, not the private benefit of an…
Blog
NLRB Attack on McDonald’s
No one accuses the government of being responsive to the public. Whether you are a veteran seeking care or need to renew your license at…
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Police unions’ lawsuit thumbs nose at taxpayers, constitution
Trey Kovacs discusses the lawsuit filed by the Las Vegas police unions that demand to preserve union release time. This release time relys on taxpayer dollars to…
Blog
Republicans Should Support Rep. King’s Amendment to Prohibit Davis-Bacon Requirements
The House of Representatives is voting on the Highway Trust Fund this week. Numerous amendments have been added to the bill. One that should garner…
Blog
House Committee Pushes Back against NLRB Assault on Small Business
Today, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed H.R. 3459, the Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act, a bill that would restore the traditional…
Blog
Return of the Employee Free Choice Act
Labor law has dramatically changed under the Obama administration via the pro-union National Labor Relations Board. Many longstanding Board precedents have been tossed aside in favor…
Blog
More Affirmative-Action Red Tape for Contractors: Sexual Orientation Added in California
Governments impose a cobweb of complicated and confusing affirmative-action mandates on government contractors. That imposes billions of dollars in compliance costs on contractors. It also …
Washington Examiner
Labor board expands burden on business to disclose worker info to unions
The Washington Examiner references Trey Kovacs on the National Labor Relations Board's ruling that hospital managers must turn over all employee contact information to the…
Investor's Business Daily
NLRB Attack On McDonald’s: Transparency For Thee, Not For Me
Who’s the boss? The National Labor Relations Board recently muddled that normally straightforward question. In August, the NLRB, in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries, unilaterally…
Washington Examiner
Labor-Dem money-go-round
The Washington Examiner references Ivan Osorio on the Amalgamated Bank union's endorsement Democratic candidates and cash offerings to PACs. Ivan Osorio, editorial director at…
Heartland Institute
NLRB Decision Supersizes Franchise Fast-Food Worker Unions’ Power
The Heartland Institute consults CEI's Trey Kovacs on the NLRB's decision to allow organized labor groups to negotiate with the company franchise itself.
Cato Journal: Fall 2015 Vol. 35 No. 3
Government Against Itself: Public Union Power and Its Consequences
Full Document Available in PDF This article was originally published in the Fall 2015 Edition of the Cato Institute’s Cato Journal.
Products
Bernie Bill Could Be A Big Win For Union Election Drivers
The Daily Caller references Trey Kovac's article to understand how card check supresses worker's voice. A main focus of the measure would be…
Politico
Will UAW strike?
Politico discusses the United Auto Workers strike and references Trey Kovacs for information on unionization. One union leader is so miffed about Elephant…
The Hill
Workers Need Opportunities More Than a Summit
CEI's Labor Expert, Trey Kovacs, discusses the pitfalls of President Obama's labor summit geared towards promoting union's interests rather than those of workers. On October…
The Daily Caller
How Unions are Being Given Free Rein to Use Public Employees
The Daily Caller cites Trey Kovac's report on how much public sector unions cost the federal government and tax payers. In general the…
Blog
Why Isn’t There a Joint Union Standard?
On September 29, an official and members of Boston’s Teamsters Local 25 were indicted on extortion charges, which U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz described as…
Blog
Fed Reacts to Job Reports, Why Doesn’t Department of Labor?
We had another jobs report below expectations this morning, coupled with a rare revision downwards of last month’s jobs report. This ends a summer of jobs…
The Daily Caller
Stalled Unemployment Spells Bad News for the Economy
The Daily Caller cites CEI's report by Iain Murray on the recent announcment of job editions. Palley also argued the Federal Reserve should not…
Blog
Bill Introduced in Senate to Strip NLRB of Adjudicatory Power
On September 28, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced The Protecting American Jobs Act, S. 2084, which would relieve the National Labor Relations Board of its…
Examiner
Trump’s immigration stance resonates with voters
Examiner references CEI's report on immigration for data behind Donald Trump's stance on illegal immigration which resonates with voters. The average cost to illegally…
Study
How Government Unions Undermine Upward Mobility
Full Document Available in PDF A common claim made by government employee unions and their supporters is that they stand up for…
Blog
NLRB Doubles-Down on Expanded Joint-Employer Standard
As I detailed here last week, in a case involving Browning-Ferris Industries, the National Labor Relations Board decided to greatly expand when an employer is…
Blog
NLRB Joint Employer Decision Creates Barrier to Job Creation
In a 2010 speech, President Obama said small business “is as American as apple pie. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.” He went on…
American Spectator
Obama’s Job Killing Gift to Big Labor
Trey Kovacs discusses the active NLRB in the waning years of the Obama administration: The Obama administration rewarded its union allies last month…
Fox News
Obama NLRB Pushes Pro-Labor Agenda as Administration Winds Down
Trey Kovacs discusses recent NLRB decisions with Fox News: “They [NLRB] have been active in recent months,” said Trey Kovacs, a labor…
Blog
Missouri Can Make History with Right to Work Override Vote
Today, the Missouri legislature is scheduled to vote on overriding Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of right to work. If Republicans can muster enough votes—several…
Washington Examiner
Right-To-Work Legislation Defeated in Missouri
The Washington Examiner talks to CEI's Trey Kovacs about the recent veto of Missouri Right-To-Work legislation: "In failing to override the governor's…
News Release
CEI Statement on Missouri Right-To-Work Veto
Statement by Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Trey Kovacs on today's vote in the Missouri legislature that failed to override the governor's veto…
Daily Caller
These Are The Union-Backed MO Republicans Blocking Right-To-Work
The Daily Caller discusses Right-To-Work legislation in Missouri with CEI's Trey Kovacs: The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), however, has stated in a…
News Release
CEI Report Examines Potential Gains in Missouri Right to Work Showdown
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains how the people of Missouri would greatly benefit from becoming a right to work state. This…
Study
Why Right to Work is Right for Missouri
No individual should be forced to financially support an organization they disagree with or risk penalty. However, in Missouri and 24 other states, private sector…
Blog
NLRB’s BFI Decision Deserves Overturning
Who’s the boss? That’s not often a difficult question to answer. But thanks to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), it’s no longer so easy.
News Release
CEI Statement on Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act
On the joint employer issue, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today introduced a bill to undo the recent NLRB ruling in the case against the Browning-Ferris waste management company. You will…
Letters
Coalition Letter Supporting Missouri Right-To-Work
View the PDF here Dear Members of the Missouri State Senate and General Assembly: We represent organizations from across the country dedicated…
Blog
Workers Deserve Labor Law Reform
Unions use Labor Day as an occasion to remind workers of their past good deeds and deploy their usual rhetoric claiming to have workers’ best…
Blog
NLRB’s Joint-Employer Ruling: Payback for Unions at Workers’ and Business’ Expense
In a radical new ruling, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) late last week threw all American franchise and contract businesses into a state of…
Blog
Federal Labor Agencies Attack Workers and the Economy
Today, CEI released a report on the Obama administration’s effort to pay back its union allies by way of federal labor agencies. The National Labor Relations…
Daily Caller
NLRB Upends Franchising And Contracting In Landmark Case
Iain Murray talks to the Daily Caller about the devastating effects of the NLRB Joint Employer ruling: The impact could be great. Many…
News Release
Report: Obama Labor Regulators Set for Big Changes That Help Unions, Hurt Businesses and Jobs
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute outlines how the Obama administration is working to make major, unilateral changes to labor policies to reward…
News Release
NLRB Ruling in Joint Employer Cases Will Have Devastating Economic Impact
In response to today's 3-2 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board expanding employers’ liabilities as so-called "joint employers," Competitive Enterprise Institute vice president for…
