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
Michigan’s Right To Work Repeal Is a Repeal of Individual Rights
If right to work laws are so bad than why do their critics have such a hard time talking about what precisely the laws do? …
News Release
Economy Adds 311,000 Jobs in February 2023 – Good News
The U.S. economy added 311,000 jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than expected by experts. Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Don’t Ban Technology of Tomorrow to Save Jobs of Yesterday
Recently in Episode 10 of the Free the Economy podcast we returned to one of our favorite topics, economic opportunity and jobs in…
Blog
DOL Nominee Julie Su An Aggressive Enforcer, Inept Manager
President Biden’s announcement Tuesday that he would nominate Department of Labor Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su to replace departing Labor Secretary Mary Walsh is…
Reason
Photos Show the Transformation of Great Britain
Not so long ago, Great Britain was deemed “the sick man of Europe.” The 1970s were plagued by inflation, labor union strikes, and a rise…
Blog
Walsh Skates out of the Biden Administration
The news that Marty Walsh will be stepping down as Secretary of Labor seems to reflect the diminished agenda that Joe Biden will have…
Boston Herald
Murray: College credential snare should be bipartisan issue
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, did all Pennsylvanians a favor in January by making 92% of state government jobs open to anyone without a…
News Release
Economy Adds 517,000 Jobs in January: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 517,000 jobs in January 2023, according to newly released government numbers. That’s higher than expected. CEI experts explain what it…
Washington Examiner
Democrats and Republicans: Unite around abundance
Inflation may finally be starting to wane, but there is no clear end in sight to the economic turmoil that Americans have experienced for nearly…
The Washington Times
Hotels recover revenue, but staff shortages linger
The hotel industry this year will surpass pre-pandemic levels of demand and room revenue but struggle with lingering pandemic-era staff shortages, according to annual projections…
National Review
The Federal Minimum Wage Is Irrelevant to Most Workers
It has been 13 years since the federal government last raised its minimum wage — currently $7.25 an hour — and that’s totally fine. It’s fine…
Blog
Philip Howard’s Not Accountable Focuses on Reform of Public Sector Unions
Of the 14.3 million people that the Department of Labor says are currently union members, almost half, 7.1 million, work in public sector jobs.
Blog
Unionization Is Down to 10.1 Percent of the Workforce, Lowest Level on Record
The Department of Labor annual survey of union density, released today, shows that unions have fallen to just 10.1 percent of the overall workforce,…
News Release
Economy Added 223,000 Jobs in December – Some Good News and Bad
The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in December, according to government data, and the unemployment rate dipped down to 3.5 percent, where it was…
Issues and Insights
Customers, Not Regulators, Should Hold Southwest Accountable
Southwest Airlines’ scheduling meltdown over the holiday weekend has prompted Capitol Hill lawmakers to propose hearings and federal regulators like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to promise a…
Blog
Customers, Not Regulators, Should Hold Southwest Accountable
Southwest Airlines’ scheduling meltdown over the holiday weekend has prompted Capitol Hill lawmakers to propose hearings and federal regulators like Transportation Secretary Pete…
News Release
CEI Releases Pro-Growth Regulatory Reform Agenda for the 118th Congress
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) offered a set of important policy reforms for the 118th Congress to consider when it convenes in…
Products
Free to Prosper: Labor and Employment
With employers struggling to fill open positions and supply chains still playing catchup, federal employment policy needs to adapt to new economic realities rather than…
Blog
Bailout Suggests It’s Time to Rethink Multiemployer Pensions
President Biden announced last Thursday that the government would give $36 billion to bail out the multiemployer Teamsters Central States Pension Fund. It is…
DJ Journal
NLRB Doesn’t Want Workers to Hear Both Sides on Unions
Amazon isn’t the only corporation to face such charges. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was hit in October for comments regarding unions, indicating that the…
News Release
Job Gains in November 2022 Amid Inflation, Economic Problems: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent, according to the Labor Department. CEI experts break…
News Release
House Premature on Rail Strike Intervention: CEI Analysis
The House today voted today on a resolution aimed at averting an impending strike by freight rail workers on December 9 – over a…
Wall Street Journal
House Approves Imposing Railroad Labor Deal, Paid Sick Leave Measure
The White House said Mr. Biden broadly supports providing more sick leave for rail workers, but he opposes measures that could slow down passage of…
Blog
Biden Hits the Brakes on Possible Railroad Strike
President Biden’s call on Monday for Congress to intervene in contract negotiations between railroad workers and the industry to prevent a strike is…
Blog
Somebody Better Hit the Brakes Soon in Railway Dispute
Three railroad unions have now voted to reject a contract negotiated by the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) that had been accepted by eight other…
News Release
US Economy Added Jobs in October, but Unemployment Remains High – Signs of Cooling
The U.S. added 261,000 jobs in October, while unemployment ticked up to 3.7 percent, according to data released today by the Labor Department. That’s more…
Blog
NLRB Seeks to Gag Amazon Management
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently alleged that Amazon chief executive office Andy Jassy violated federal labor laws by publicly saying that he…
Blog
Mandatory Union Fees are Junk Fees
The White House yesterday called up federal agencies to target “junk fees” charged to consumers, arguing that these hidden costs are exploitative and drag…
Blog
Workers Should Be Able to Hear from Both Sides Before Union Votes
Workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Albany, New York, opposed forming a union by a nearly two-to-one margin last week. It was the…
News Release
Union Risks Job Loss in Bid to Stop Kroger/Albertsons Merger, Warn CEI Antitrust Experts
Four local chapters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International representing some 100,000 workers are reportedly lobbying regulators and lawmakers to oppose the $25…
The Center Square
Washington Supreme Court ruling could boost the cost of public works
Washington state constitutional questions aside, Competitive Enterprise Institute research fellow Sean Higgins doesn’t believe the law is an improvement. “‘Prevailing wage…
News Release
Biden Labor Department Rule Makes “Employee” or “Freelancer” Even Harder to Determine
The Biden Labor Department today announced plans to use not a formal rulemaking but an interpretive rule to upend guidelines that help businesses determine whether…
News Release
September Jobs Report Shows Signs of Business Recovery but Inflation Remains a Problem: CEI Analysis
The federal government today released its data on how many jobs the U.S. economy added during the month of September: 263,000. CEI experts offer analysis…
Blog
Illinois Ballot Measure to Allow Unions To “Keep Our Foot on the Gas”
Here’s a riddle: Why would unions in Illinois promote a ballot measure to establish a right to collective bargaining when that state is…
Foundation for Economic Education
How to Stop Panicking and Embrace the Future: A Pep Talk From Entrepreneur Magazine’s Editor
Entrepreneur magazine editor-in-chief Jason Feifer is challenging you to change. According to him, in fact, you don’t really have a choice—change is all around you, and…
Blog
The Jones Act vs. Puerto Rico, Again
Puerto Rico is almost entirely without power after Hurricane Fiona. Right now, there is a ship just offshore, ready to help. It has…
Blog
FTC To Use Algorithms in Bid to Hobble Gig Economy
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it will use its “full authority” to investigate “unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive practices” by so-called gig…
Blog
Why Railway Unions Oppose the Deal Biden Helped Arrange
The Chamber of Commerce today urged Congress to step in and impose a settlement should talks between the rail industry and the its…
The Washington Times
Critics of NLRB’s ‘joint employer’ rule predict job losses, more red tape for businesses
The Washington Times cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins on the NLRB joint employer rule: The board’s apparent goal is to encourage collective…
News Release
NLRB Democrats Unveil New Rule Expanding Joint Employer Liability…Again
Democrats on the National Labor Relations Board have put forward a new rule expanding “joint employer” liability for businesses nationwide. CEI labor policy expert…
Blog
NLRB Proposes Third Rewrite of Joint Employer Rule in Four Years
As expected, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has proposed a new version of the “joint employer” rule, which establishes when a…
National Review
Unions’ Cynical Minimum-Wage Gambit
We want California to be the first in the nation as it is in so many fronts, and to be able to spread this to other…
The Hill
This Labor Day, let’s ensure that individual workers are empowered, too
Ideas never die. If they become unpopular, people forget about them, but then they bounce back when a new generation rediscovers them. And whatever made…
News Release
CEI Experts React to August Jobs Numbers
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 315,000 new jobs in the month of August, slightly below market expectations. The unemployment rate rose to…
Blog
Starbucks Alleges an NLRB Whistleblower Reveals Election Shenanigans
A challenge by Starbucks to a recent union election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) includes a remarkable claim by the company: There…
Blog
How the Inflation Reduction Act Favors Unions over Taxpayers
The word “prevailing” appears 27 times in the text of the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed by Congress Sunday and…
News Release
U.S. Economy Adds 528k Jobs In July Amid Inflation and Shrinking GDP, but Congress isn’t Helping: CEI Analysis
The U.S. economy added 528,000 in July, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Blog
How to Make Official Time Even Worse
“Official time” is the practice of allowing members of public sector unions to conduct union business while getting paid for the regular government job…
Blog
Regulators Going off the Rails on a Crazy Train
One year after a supply chain crisis caused shortages across the nation, the Biden administration is trying to prevent railroads from modernizing and automating.
Blog
The Effect of Transfer Payments on the Labor Force Participation Rate
In the The Wall Street Journal last Thursday, James Piereson of the Manhattan Institute laid out the case for the relationship between a shrinking…
Blog
A Closer Look at The Guardian’s “The Uber Files”
On July 11, 2022, The Guardian published an expose of rideshare giant Uber’s business practices, based on a trove of leaked documents it obtained. However,…
News Release
U.S. Economy Adds 372,000 Jobs in June – Good News for Recession Worries
The U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs in June 2022, according to a new tally released today by the government. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady…
Blog
Supreme Court EPA Ruling A Warning Shot to Agencies like NLRB
The Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency that the EPA exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act is…
News Release
CEI Experts React to Supreme Court’s West Virginia v EPA Decision
WASHINGTON—In deciding West Virginia v. EPA today, the Supreme Court held that Congress never authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions from…
Blog
Federal Agency Tries to Extend Reach with Joint Employer Standard
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal labor law enforcement agency, is likely planning to vastly expand its reach through a rulemaking on something…
Blog
Biden Says He Wants to Be the “Most Pro-Union President in the History of the United States”
Flattering the audience is one of the handiest tools a person has when giving a speech. It’s a simple way to establish a positive tone…
The Hill
An independent commission can bypass congressional dysfunction and help solve the worker shortage
Job openings have been at record highs for a while now, but companies can’t find the workers to fill them. How can Congress help? That…
Blog
One Way to Address Worker Shortage: A Commission to Clear Out Job-Blocking Regulations
Earlier this week, the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee held a hearing to discuss ways to address the worker shortage. There are more than…
Blog
As Gas Prices Rises, Ridesharing Industry Adjusts
Rideshare companies are currently feeling the pinch from high gas prices, but some of their drivers are weathering the change better than others. High gas…
The Hill
Authorizing congressional unions won’t end Democrats’ labor troubles
The Hill cites CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins discussing congressional unions: Regarding unions, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Sean Higgins explains that then-Speaker…
Freedom Works
AUDIO: Sean Higgins of CEI on job gains
CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins discusses job gains on Freedom Works Radio.
Blog
Dead Man’s Switch: Biden Administration Fights Railroad Automation
Of all modes of transportation, one would think that railways would be at the leading edge of automation. After all, they don’t use public roads,…
News Release
Latest Employment Report Shows COVID Effects Lingering, Inflation Taking Toll
WASHINGTON—The Department of Labor reported today a gain of 390,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, as did…
Blog
EEOC Nominee Kalpana Thinks Transparency Is an Important Value, Less Clear on Need to Abide by It
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may become a lot less accountable in its decision making than it was under the Trump administration should President Biden’s…
Blog
Court Tells NLRB Sometimes a Joke Is In Fact a Joke
In a significant win for common sense, a federal appeals court has found that sometimes a joke is just a joke, even when it…
Blog
Let’s Not Allow Davis-Bacon to Further Clog Job Arteries
The Biden administration is proposing to make government contracting even more expensive by revamping the Davis-Bacon Act. This law requires that related workers on…
Comment
CEI Letter Opposing the Department of Labor’s Proposed Changes to the Davis-Bacon Act
Via Regulations.Gov Hon. Marty Walsh Secretary of Labor United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20210 Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related…
Blog
House Staffers Can Now Unionize
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved, for the first time ever, allowing congressional staff to form unions. This will be an interesting experiment. How…
The Washington Times
Teachers’ unions scrutinized over Harvard study of COVID-19 learning
The Washington Times cites CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins on teachers’ unions: Sean Higgins, a research associate at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, said these…
News Release
April 2022 Job Gains Demonstrate Government Intervention Not Necessary
Today the federal government reported that the U.S. economy gained 428,000 jobs last month (similar to the number added in March). Those gains demonstrate that…
Blog
Unions Are Getting Smarter by Returning to Old-School Organizing Tactics
A new wave of union activism has swept the country in recent months with workers at Starbucks, Amazon, and even Apple pushing to organize. The…
Wall Street Journal
Amazon Takes On the National Labor Relations Board
Amazon is pushing back against the recent union election at its Staten Island facility in a novel way: by taking on the National Labor Relations…
Blog
NLRB General Counsel Calls for End to Secret Ballots in Workplace Elections
The general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is calling on the agency to unilaterally adopt “card check” rules for all union…
The Washington Times
Tech Companies Offer Big Money to Summer Interns for In-Person Work
The Washington Times cites research Fellow Sean Higgins on the future of in-person versus remote internships: “This may lead to internships morphing…
Blog
NLRB General Counsel Targets Mandatory Attendance Meetings
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is taking aim at “captive audience meetings” held by employers, arguing that it is unfair…
Crowdfund Insider
JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Crowdfund Insider cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on outcome of the JOBS Act 10 years later: CI also spoke with John…
Blog
Amazon Union Wins in Staten Island with Backing of 32 Percent of Workers
Key to understanding the union organizing win at Amazon’s Staten Island facility is that there were enough workers who wanted a union, or at…
News Release
New Job Gains for March 2022 Shows Businesses Open with Jobs to Offer: CEI Analysis
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today that the U.S. economy added over 400,000 jobs in the month of March – good news…
Blog
Weil, That Was a Close One!
David Weil, the Biden administration’s pick to be the administrator of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, was rejected by…
Inside Sources
Point: Pay College Athletes
St. Peter’s University’s run of upsets wasn’t the only storyline from this year’s March Madness tournament. The other is that the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball…
Blog
The Best Thing the Department of Labor Can Do for Freelancers is Keep the Trump-era Rule
In a surprising move, a federal court has thrown out the Biden administration’s attempt to throw out the Trump administration’s new rule to determine…
Blog
Biden Administration Seeks to Redefine Word “Prevailing”
The Biden administration has come up with an innovative way to aid its union allies: redefining the word “prevailing” to mean its opposite. The…
National Review
Supply Shocks Are Not Inflation
Gas prices are spiking due to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. President Biden announced a ban on importing Russian oil, which accounts…
Blog
Inflation Numbers Show a Minimum Wage Hike Is Still A Bad Idea
Like a slasher movie villain who refuses to die, the push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour seems to have a…
Blog
How Newt Gingrich Laid the Groundwork for Congressional Staff Unionizing
The current effort by congressional staff to unionize builds on a legal groundwork laid decades ago by Republicans. In fact, the idea was…
Blog
The New Office Normal
What is the best workplace model for employers to follow as COVID-19 (hopefully) continues to wind down? In an Inside Sources op-ed currently being…
The Frederick News Post
No Single Best Way to Work
COVID-19 might be winding down into an endemic disease like the cold and the flu — maybe. But even if the virus has more curveballs…
News Release
U.S. Economy Adds 678,000 Jobs in February, but Inflation, Russia, Government Mandates Remain a Problem
The U.S. economy added 678,000 jobs in February, according to newly released government figures. CEI economic and labor policy experts praised the good news…
Citation
AUDIO: Sean Higgins Joins the Bob Harden Show
Research Fellow Sean Higgins joins the Bob Harden Show to discuss unions.
Blog
What Do Workers Want?
Pundits and politicians are talking about how to get back to normal as COVID (hopefully) winds down into an endemic disease like the cold or…
The Hill
You’re the Boss: Unionized Staff Would Force Democrats to Take on Management’s Role
A group of congressional Democratic staffers are attempting to form a union. It might not be a bad idea. A major problem with Congress is…
Blog
The One Area Where Voting Rights Isn’t Sacred: Union Elections.
There is one area of voting rights where many Democrats don’t seem to want every voice to be heard: union elections. Democratic lawmakers have accepted…
Blog
Unions Likely Received $36 Million in Improper PPP Loans
It is possible that labor unions improperly received more than $36 million in “loans” under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The program was intended…
News Release
U.S. Economy Added 467,000 Jobs in January 2022, Signaling No Need for Govt Meddling
The good news jobs gain in January gives President Biden and Congress ample reason to step back and let businesses and workers chart a…
The Washington Times
American Consumers See Drop in Restaurant, Retail Quality from Labor Shortage, Study Finds
The Washington Times cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins on costs of pandemic to restaurant business: Sean Higgins, a research fellow specializing in…
The Boston Globe
Workers Organizing at McLean Hospital Face Staunch Resistance
The Boston Globe cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins on union membership: Given that only 6 percent of the private-sector workforce is organized,…
Real Clear Policy
This Biden Nominee Could Restrict Worker Freedom
Real Clear Policy cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on Biden nominee David Weil: The AI broadened the scope of wage…
Blog
Even Most Democrats Favor Right to Work Laws
For being so controversial, right to work laws are pretty popular. A majority of states, 27, have them and even Democrats will give…
Blog
Rising Pay Undermines Push for Increasing the Minimum Wage
A Department Labor report released Friday shows wages rising 4.5 percent, evidence that the Biden administration’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage…
Blog
Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Is Still a Bad Idea Even If Properly Enacted
The best that can be said about the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw the executive order for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate and instead try to…
