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 AI Jobs apocalypse gets postponed, as CEI predicted
The prophesies of doom that artificial intelligence would destroy jobs have been put on hold recently. Businesses, including the ones that use AI technology,…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Questioning the AI jobs doomsday with Sean Higgins
In this week’s episode we cover making home appliances great again, fighting price controls on health care, research on AI-fueled…
Blog
Why Big Tech is postponing the AI jobs doomsday
The heads of big tech have recently changed their tune regarding artificial intelligence’s effect on jobs. The emerging technology will bolster the workforce,…
Search Posts
Study
The NLRB Joint-Employer Cases
Designating companies with certain business models as “joint employers”, including many restaurants, gas stations, day care providers, cleaning services, auto repair shops, hotels, and more,…
News Release
Report: Labor Union Attack on Franchise Businesses and Jobs Turns on Politicized ‘Joint Employer’ Lawsuits
A new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute spells out how a set of lawsuits brought by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) attacks independent…
Overlawyered
Liability Roundup
Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader on the Brown v. Nucor Corp. case: "Brown v. Nucor Corp.: did…
Blog
Union Bosses Lobby for Exemption from $15 LA Minimum Wage
As I reported in yesterday, Big Labor spent a lot of money and resources supporting the Los Angeles' $15 minimum wage.
Blog
Big Labor Money Behind Los Angeles Minimum Wage Hike
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
Blog
Defund the Partisan NLRB
One of the primary objectives of the National Labor Relations Act is to remedy the perceived "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers. However,…
The Washington Free Beacon
SEIU Wants to Kill Franchisees with Kindness
The Washington Free Beacon talks to CEI's Aloysius Hogan on the SEIU threat to franchises: Aloysius Hogan, a labor policy expert at the…
News Release
SEIU Targets Franchisers (Again)
CEI labor policy expert Aloysius Hogan is commenting on today's announcement by the SEIU that the labor union is further targeting franchisors. This is…
Blog
Missouri House and Senate Pass Right to Work
On May 12, Missouri took a great leap forward toward becoming the 26th right to work (RTW) state. First, the State Senate passed the bill…
Blog
Right to Work is Right for Missouri
On May 12, Missouri took a great leap forward toward becoming the 26th right to work (RTW) state. First, the State Senate passed the bill…
Blog
Government Union Collective Bargaining Needs Sunlight
Taxpayers should have a right to know how tax dollars are spent. Unfortunately, one of state and local governments' largest expenditures, public union contracts, mostly…
Blog
President Again Makes False Claims about Supreme Court’s Ledbetter Decision
On April 15, President Obama once again made false claims about what the Supreme Court did in its decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire &…
Blog
Congress Tables Ambush Election Resolution of Disapproval
The Competitive Enterprise Institute planned on scoring the Senate’s veto override vote on S.J. Res. 8, a Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval to void…
Blog
Will Gov. Cuomo Kill the Economic Opportunity James Franco Extols?
Kudos to actor, writer, and director James Franco for his Washington Post piece yesterday explaining an important benefit of McDonald’s and the fast-food and franchise industries writ…
Blog
Congress Gives Up Fight against NLRB Ambush Election Rule
The Competitive Enterprise Institute planned on scoring the Senate’s veto override vote on S.J. Res. 8, a Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval to void…
Blog
Republicans Vote in Favor of Union Giveaways
Last week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sent out a Key Vote alert on two amendments. Both were designed to save taxpayers money by ending policies…
Blog
Key Vote Alert: “YES” on Overriding the Veto of S. J. Res. 8
On Monday, May 4, 2015, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will score the Senate’s veto override vote on S. J. Res. 8, a Congressional Review…
Blog
Key Votes Alert: Amendments to H.R. 2029, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill
Key Votes Alert: Amendments to H.R. 2029, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will score votes in the…
Blog
Theatrical Union Ignores Membership Vote to End Volunteering Exemption
If a vote goes against you, ignore it. That is what a theatrical union did this week, when it announced it would ditch a longstanding…
Blog
SEIU Support for Minimum Wage Hikes Based on Self-Interest
Why is the Service Employees International Union funneling $15 million into the Fight for 15 campaign when the average private-sector union member makes $22 an…
The Fresno Bee
The NLRB’s Emerging, Disastrous Joint-Employer Cases
Franchise businesses provide us food, tax preparation, daycare, and gasoline. Many of us have worked a temporary job or know someone who has. Businesses commonly…
News Release
CEI’s John Berlau Responds to Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule
Today, the Labor Department is expected to release its long-awaited "fiduciary rule." Ostensibly aimed at addressing potential conflicts of interest by brokers who offer retirement investment advice, Competitive…
Blog
SEIU Support for Minimum Wage Hikes Based on Self-Interest
Why is the Service Employees International Union funneling $15 million into the Fight for 15 campaign when the average private-sector union member makes $22 an hour and…
Blog
Washington Teachers’ Union Boss Compensation Not Unusual
A recent article in the Yakima Herald-Republic describes a union subsidy, which pays 75 percent of the teachers' union president's salary, as "unusual." Unfortunately, that…
Products
New Rule Empowers Union ‘Ambush Elections’
With declining union membership, the easiest way for the NLRB to help unions increase their ranks is limiting the time that workers have to contemplate the…
Investor's Business Daily
New Rule Empowers Union ‘Ambush Elections’
Americans usually associate mid-April with tax filing — a trying yet predictable annual ritual. This year, however, it will mean a change in America’s workplaces…
Blog
NLRB Holds Training at Union Office and Top Lawyer Forgets Details of Ambush Election Rule
Congress has held numerous hearings and passed a resolution of disapproval of the National Labor Relations Board regulation known as the "ambush election" rule due…
Blog
Missouri Government Employers Rarely Keep Track of Union Subsidy
One would expect government employers to know where and what its employees are doing while paid by the taxpayer. Unfortunately, in Missouri, that is not…
Washington Free Beacon
Missouri Officials Block Efforts to Track Time Teachers Spend on Union Business
The Washington Free Beacon cites Trey Kovac's study on Missouri union release time: The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a think tank based in…
Study
A Remedy for 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
Congress Introduces Bill to Combat NLRB Overreach
Last week, Congress introduced a bill that would restore decades-old National Labor Relations Board precedent by overturning a decision that inappropriately eased union organizing drives.
Blog
Maine Legislators Try to Bring Right-to-Work to the Northeast
Last week, Wisconsin became the 25th right-to-work (RTW) state, meaning workers cannot be forced to pay dues to a union which they may disagree with.
Blog
Wisconsin Unions Sue to Maintain Coercive Power
Workers should find the union lawsuit against Wisconsin's recently enacted right-to-work law (RTW) bizarre and, probably, offensive. The argument put forth by unions is that…
Blog
State Labor Law Reform Beyond Right-to-Work
Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin's legislature are not alone. A number of states are introducing legislation that enhances worker freedom and holds unions accountable to…
Blog
Steelworkers Allegedly Intimidate Members that Just Want to Work
On February 1, the United Steelworkers (USW) instigated a strike at several oil refineries around the country, a first since the 1980s. After contract negotiations…
Carolina Journal
Quietly, Government Stops Counting ‘Green’ Jobs
Carolina Journal quotes CEI`s John Berlau on the federal government`s `green job` promotion: John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Gov. Scott Walker Aims to Make Wisconsin 25th Right-to-Work State Monday
No individual should be forced to financially support an organization they disagree with or risk penalty. Thankfully, Governor Scott Walker is determined to ensure that…
Blog
U.S. Supreme Court Could Free Government Workers from Forced Union Dues
Public-sector workers could soon gain the freedom to decide whether or not to pay union dues if the U.S. Supreme Court hears the impending case,…
Blog
Union Employees on Public Payroll Challenged in Pennsylvania Courts
A recent lawsuit filed by The Fairness Center, a public interest law firm, is challenging the Philadelphia School District's practice of allowing school employees perform…
Blog
Wisconsin Opponents of Right-to-Work Offer Weak Defense of Compulsory Dues Payments
Predictably, yesterday, labor unions and its supporters protested outside of the Wisconsin Capitol to voice their displeasure with the right-to-work (RTW) bill that is making…
Blog
NLRB Ambush Election Rule Weakens Worker Privacy
Government should not have the power to force private-sector employers to disclose workers’ private contact information to a third party special-interest group for any cause.
Blog
Missouri a Step Closer to Enacting Right to Work
Last Thursday, right-to-work passed the Missouri House. The bill, approved 91-64, makes union dues payments in the private-sector voluntary and now awaits a contentious political…
Blog
Congress Takes First Shot at NLRB Ambush Election Rule
Congress established the National Labor Relations Board as a body made up of neutral arbiters to represent the public in labor disputes. Under the Obama…
Blog
The $7 Billion Slowdown
The ongoing logjam at ports on the West Coast could cost American retailers around $7 billion this year, according to the consultancy Kurt Salmon. That’s a…
Blog
Congress Takes First Shot at NLRB Ambush Election Rule
Congress established the National Labor Relations Board as a body made up of neutral arbiters to represent the public in labor disputes. Under the Obama…
Blog
Treasury Union President: IRS Needs More Money
As budget talks heat-up, union officials are making their presence known and that their agencies need more money.
Blog
Poll: 75% of Ohioans Disapprove of Using Taxpayer Funds to Collect Union Dues
Jason Hart, Watchdog.org labor reporter, recently published a story that highlights a new poll from the think tank Opportunity Ohio on Ohioans' opinions of labor…
Blog
GOP Introduces Labor Reform Bills
As the 114th Congress kicks-off, labor reform seems to be on the minds of the GOP. On January 28, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Lamar…
Blog
Study: Cutting Unemployment Benefits Boosted Hiring
President Obama’s policies reduced employment and slowed America’s economic recovery by discouraging people from working. The Congressional Budget Office says Obamacare will shrink employment by around …
Study
Free to Prosper
With the start of the 114th Congress comes a fresh opportunity to address the challenges created by a broken government. To kick off this new…
Staff & Scholars
Sean Higgins
Research Fellow
- Deregulation
- Labor and Employment
Ryan Young
Senior Economist and Director of Publications
- Antitrust
- Business and Government
- Regulatory Reform
Ivan Osorio
Editorial Director
- Labor and Employment
Iain Murray
Vice President for Strategy and Senior Fellow
- Banking and Finance
- Trade and International