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
DC Journal
This Labor Day, Respect the Right to Join (or Not) a Union
Labor Day was created to celebrate all the Americans who work to support their families. The least the government can do in return is…
News Release
US economy adds 162,000 jobs in August, higher than expected: CEI analysis
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report for August shows the economy added 162,000 jobs, higher than economists predicted. While the news is a…
Blog
The ‘no hire, no fire’ era is starting to crack
Families gathering around the barbeque next Monday to celebrate the national day off from work will probably be grilling more hot dogs and cheap…
Search Posts
Blog
Immelt Pleads for Tax Holiday to Enhance GE Rent-Seeking
Yesterday, arch rent-seeker Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric CEO and Obama’s job czar, headlined the “Campaign for Free Enterprise” job summit. In typical fashion, Immelt had…
Blog
Stimulus Dollars Funded Mexican Coffin Industry through “Operation Fast and Furious”
Not content with just using American tax dollars to subsidize foreign "green jobs" that replaced U.S. jobs, the Obama administration used stimulus dollars…
Blog
Unemployment Rises, Driven Up By Failed Government Policies
U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers in nine months . . . Non-farm…
One News Now
Unions ‘Have Nowhere Else To Go’
One News Now
Vincent Vernuccio Criticizes TSA Push for Unionization
Vincent Vernuccio again slams the TSA, this time for stealing from passengers and failing to do a better job of policing their own, while…
Blog
Mica and Duncan’s Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill Calls for 42% Cuts from SAFETEA-LU Levels
Today, House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and Highway and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.) announced they would be introducing a $230-billion,…
Blog
New Video on the D.C. Taxicab Medallion Bill
Reason.tv has a new video up today, “D.C. Taxi Heist: How a new law would screw drivers and riders,” that explains why Washington’s proposed…
Blog
Public-Sector Unions in the Northeast are a Tough Group to Please
Openmarket.org The cozy relationship between liberal governors in Northeast states and Big Labor is becoming strained. Elected Democrats are realizing how strongly strings were attached…
Blog
Public-Sector Unions in the Northeast are a Tough Group to Please
The cozy relationship between liberal governors in Northeast states and Big Labor is becoming strained. Elected Democrats are realizing how strongly strings were attached to…
Blog
The National Labor Relations Act Turns 76
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) turns 76 today. This day should give pause to those who have been following the National Labor Relations…
Blog
Third Time’s the Charm: Ray LaHood Announces TIGER 3
Late last week, the Department of Transportation announced it was launching a third round of TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery -- I feel…
Blog
Liberal Judges: Equality Violates Equal Protection Clause; Taxpayers to Pay More Due to Ruling
Last week, a divided Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which amended Michigan's constitution in 2006 to ban racial…
One News Now
Another Horselaugh for the Sixth Circuit
One News Now
Is the Stimulus Creating Jobs, or Killing Them?
Blog
Chicago Mayor Emanuel Gives Unions a Choice: Concessions or Layoffs
Leaders of government employee unions must be feeling lonely these days. Across the country, Democratic state and local elected officials — traditional union allies —…
Blog
Keeping the “Free” in Free Trade
Yesterday, Senate Republicans successfully blocked a Finance Committee meeting to consider free trade agreements (FTA) with Korea, Colombia, and Panama. The reason? President Obama…
Study
Labor Unions and the Democratic Party
Full Document Available in PDF Recently AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka compared…
Study
Financial Attack
Full Document Available in PDF Led by the radical Service Employees International Union (SEIU), left-wing unions and activist…
Letters
Coalition Letters Opposing E-Verify Mandate
CEI has signed coalition letters to both the Senate and the House of Representatives opposing H.R. 2164, which would mandate the use of the bureaucratic…
Blog
In Wisconsin, Smaller Class Sizes through Fiscal Restraint
Of the various hyperbolic leftist talking points against the recently enacted Wisconsin collective bargaining law, the “war on teachers” was easily the most shrill, dumb,…
Blog
Alabama’s Dangerous Crackdown on Undocumented Workers
You might’ve read about the unintended consequences of Georgia’s crackdown on undocumented workers. Well, the same thing is about to happen in Alabama.
Blog
Farm Workers Win in California
Late last night Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the California farm workers “card check” bill SB 104 for. The bill would have abolished workers right to…
Blog
Senate Judiciary Committee Pushes False Claim that Supreme Court is “Pro-Business”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is bashing the Supreme Court today as pro-business in a hearing that began at 10:30 a.m. Two of the…
Blog
Union Sign Shows Big Labor Distaste for Competition
UAW local 599 President Bill Jordan misses the forest for the trees, as is typical for union officials. A photo from the Carpe Diem…
Blog
Setting the Record Straight: Trade Creates Wealth
In his article “…
Blog
Food Stamp Nation
"Millionaires are now legally entitled to collect food stamps as long as they have little or no monthly income. Thirty-five states have abolished asset tests…
One News Now
Obama’s Non-Action On NLRB, Boeing ‘Very Telling’
Blog
Stealing You Blind: The Fate of Greece
Rioters have taken to the streets in the Greek capital of Athens. While not as unusual an occurrence as it is in Athens, Georgia,…
Blog
DOL Looks to Increase Fiduciary Standards without Following Procedure Standards
Openmarket.org The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule to broaden the definition of fiduciary. Fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act…
Blog
DOL Looks to Increase Fiduciary Standards without Following Procedure Standards
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a new rule to broaden the definition of fiduciary. Fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act…
One News Now
Louisiana Lawmaker’s Push for Transparency in Collective Bargaining Gains National Currency
One News Now
Lawyers have incentives to bring more lawsuits
Re: “Trial lawyers won’t give up on Wal-Mart lawsuits,” June 24 Diana Furchtgott-Roth notes that lawyers typically get a percentage of a worker’s winnings in…
News Release
Conservative, Libertarian Leaders Discuss Regulatory Burdens, Fiscal and Privacy Concerns of Mandatory E-Verify Legislation
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, June 30th, conservative and libertarian leaders will host a press conference call on controversial immigration enforcement legislation the House Judiciary…
One News Now
Ginsburg Gives Conflicting Statements on Class-Action Suit
Blog
Taxpayers vs. the Post Office Bureaucracy
When it comes down to outdated business model of the Post Office vs. taxpayers and postal workers, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sides with taxpayers and…
Blog
Rail Carriers, Shippers Battle Over Regulation Before the Surface Transportation Board
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I've been involved in an ongoing proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board, the independent Department of Transportation agency…
Blog
Georgia’s Immigration Folly
Who’d of thought it: cracking down on immigrant workers hurts the economy? Georgia’s learning the hard way as farms lose laborers and crops go…
Blog
A Definition of Unsustainable: The Long-Term Budget Outlook
The Congressional Budget Office has released its latest edition of the Long-Term Budget Outlook, and it makes for grim reading. Federal debt is currently…
Blog
What Unions Could Learn from AARP
Last week the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) announced a major policy shift regarding Social Security. Formerly seen as the largest opponent to…
Blog
Stealing You Blind: Plans for Future Theft
One of the themes of Stealing You Blind is how public sector unions have worked with politicians to organize an industrial-scale transfer of wealth…
Blog
More Proof That Unions Don’t Improve Schools
Schools in right-to-work states (where unions are weak) are getting better and better over time compared to schools in heavily-unionized states. As Walter Russell Mead…
Blog
Another Union Handout from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Today the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) proposed a new regulation that would speed up the union election process from 45-60 days to about 10-21…
Blog
CEI Submits FOIA Requests to DOT Over California High-Speed Rail
This morning, the Department of Transportation should receive the two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests I submitted on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
One News Now
Republicans, Employers Cry Foul on New Labor Dept., NLRB Rules
Republicans and employers across the country are calling foul in what is seen as a double whammy from the Obama administration this week. The…
Blog
Supreme Court Overturns Certification of Class-Action Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart in Multi-Billion Dollar Lawsuit
Yahoo! News reports that "the Supreme Court has ruled for Wal-Mart in its fight to block a massive sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of…
One News Now
Law, Fairness, and Wal-Mart v. Dukes
Blog
In Journalism, Scaremongering Pays — Or, Is Ethical Journalism an Oxymoron?
As legal commentator Ted Frank notes, ABC was rewarded for deliberate scaremongering and deceptive reporting that created needless fear and anxiety among Toyota owners…
Blog
Government-Subsidized Murder: Cannibal Ph.D Candidate Studies Homicide at Taxpayer Expense
"While pursuing a PhD in “homicide studies” at the British taxpayers’ expense, a man with a long history of criminal violence became a…
Blog
CEI Podcast for June 15, 2011: Do ATMs Kill Jobs?
In a recent NBC interview, President Obama blamed ATMs for taking away bank tellers' jobs. Communications Coordinator Lee Doren points out that innovation doesn't affect…
Blog
Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Collective Bargaining Law, Reversing Court Ruling Striking It Down
In a 4-to-3 vote, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the state's new law limiting collective bargaining with government-employee unions. As the Heritage Foundation's…
Blog
Ending Project Labor Agreements Vote Determines Congress’s Agenda: Jobs or Cronies?
Openmarket.org In a vote today, the House of Representatives will determine whether federal construction projects will be open to competitive bidding. In 2009, President Obama…
Blog
American Sociological Review Finds that Right-to-Work States are Better for Business
The June publication of the American Sociological Review contained research on right-to-work states. The research in “Laws of Attraction: Regulatory Arbitrage in the Face of…
Blog
More Free Speech Violations in New Mexico? Prior Restraint Against Billboard Likely
Last year, a New Mexico court issued a domestic-violence restraining order against David Letterman on behalf of a deluded woman who had never met…
Blog
Ending Project Labor Agreements Vote Determines Congress’s Agenda: Jobs or Cronies?
In a vote today, the House of Representatives will determine whether federal construction projects will be open to competitive bidding. In 2009, President Obama issued…
Blog
Unions kill jobs: Just ask the unemployed in South Carolina
The Examiner With an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent, South Carolina is in dire economic straits, and so in desperate need of the 1,000 jobs…
Blog
Cato: Downsizing the Department of Labor
Cato’s latest endeavor, downsizing the Federal Government: Labor Department, emphasizes the ineffectiveness and restrictions put in place by the Department of Labor. DOL has…
One News Now
What the Boeing Company Teaches about Right to Work
Boeing celebrated the completion of its final assembly plant for the Dreamliner 787 aircraft in North Charleston, South Carolina, today. Boeing’s $1-billion investment…
One News Now
Let’s Face the Truth: The Stimulus and Bailouts Failed
You’d think last Friday’s terrible jobs numbers would cause honest elected officials to admit that their economic policies have failed. They would tell the American…
One News Now
Vincent Vernuccio on the Pay Freeze That Wasn’t
Competitive Enterprise Institute Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio explains that President Obama's so-called pay freeze for federal workers did not affect automatic "step" and "grade"…
Blog
Why Cross-Examination Rights Matter in Campus Sexual Harassment Cases under Title IX
As part of its broader attack on safeguards against false accusations, the federal Education Department is urging colleges to strip students and faculty of…
Blog
Failures of Auto Bailouts Hidden by Deceptive Accounting and Bogus Jobs Figures
Mounting evidence shows that the auto bailouts weren't worth it. They have been far more costly, and less successful, than claimed, as even liberal…
Blog
Wisconsin Proposal Hurts Craft Beer, Protects Big Brewers
In the battle between international brewing giants SABMiller and ABInBev, Wisconsin craft brewers could bear the heaviest burden. On May 31, the state legislature’s Joint…
Comment
Official Time: Good Value for the Taxpayer?
Full Testimony Available as a PDF Watch Video of the Hearing Here Official time does not represent good value…
Blog
Even Liberal Washington Post Casts Doubt on Auto Bailouts
"Only 16 percent of executives in the auto industry" support the Chrysler bailout, according to the Washington Post’s editorial today. I think the bailout…
Blog
NFL, Players in Court Today
Today is a crucial day in the ongoing labor dispute between the NFL and the supposedly disbanded players’ union, the NFLPA as they return to…
Blog
How Free Is America?
Pajamas Media Americans are accustomed to thinking of themselves as the freest people on Earth. Except that according to the Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Index of…
Blog
Official Time: Union Activity on the Taxpayers’ Dime
Government Executive summarizes the Office of Personnel Management’s report on the use of official time, whereby unionized federal employees carry out union business…
Blog
A Culture of Deceit
Last month Governor John Lynch issued a statement explaining his veto of HB 474 to make New Hampshire a right-to-work state. His explanation included:…
Study
The Battle for Michigan
Full Document Available in PDF Michigan’s economy has been weakening for years as the Big Three…
One News Now
Lawmakers At Odds Over ‘Official Time’
One News Now
“Official Time” or Unofficial Scam? Your Tax Dollars Are Being Used For Union Business.
One News Now
Vincent Vernuccio on Official Time
CEI Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio discusses unions using taxpayer money for their own organizational activities.
Blog
Report: Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) Bridge Will Lose $4.5 Billion Over 20 Years
Via Peter Samuel of TOLLROADSnews, a new report from Conway MacKenzie estimates the proposed Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) bridge would lose in…
One News Now
Use Of ‘Official Time’ For Union Activity Is Scrutinized
Blog
California High-Speed Rail All Strung Out on Stimulus on the Outskirts of Town
Emily Washington of Market Urbanism highlights this Los Angeles Times article on the latest — depending on your outlook: hilarious or pathetic —…
News Release
Vincent Vernuccio to Testify Tomorrow at House Hearing on “Official Time”
Washington, D.C., May 31, 2011—Tomorrow, June 1, CEI Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio will testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing on…
Blog
Yet More Proof that the Supreme Court is Not Pro-Business
The Supreme Court has ruled against the Chamber of Commerce's challenge to an Arizona law punishing businesses that hire illegal aliens by taking away…
Blog
Activist Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Collective Bargaining Law — For Now
Government employee unions and their allies have tried just about everything to stop the efforts by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Republicans in the legislature…
Blog
Lots of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in the Stimulus, Which Will Cost $43 Billion More Than Expected
The Congressional Budget Office says the stimulus package will cost $43 billion more than estimated. The stimulus package is full of waste, fraud, and…
One News Now
Unsportsmanlike Conduct On The NFL Players Union
Today, only 7 percent of private sector workers belong to a union. Union membership has plummeted as unionized companies have become less competitive, in…
Blog
The Auto Bailouts: Still A Huge Loss for Taxpayers, and a Failure in Stemming Unemployment
Columnist Shikha Dalmia explains how the auto bailouts are a huge money loser for taxpayers and the economy as a whole, despite recent earnings…
Blog
NLRB Targets Boeing, Ignores Congress
It is now well known that the Obama administration is trying to use the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as a battering ram to…
Blog
Education Department’s Gainful Employment Rule Was Based on Falsehoods
Earlier, CEI issued a study on an Education Department rule that is likely to backfire on students: the so-called "gainful employment rule" that is…
Blog
Mind-boggling Increase in Tuition Since 1960 Even as Students Learn Less and Less
There has been a truly mind-boggling increase in college tuition since 1960. For example, law school tuition has risen nearly 1,000 percent after adjusting…
The American Spectator
Unionization Via Regulation
Are unions desperate? When it comes to reviving their fortunes in the private sector, it certainly seems that way. Union leaders, unable to reverse…
The American Spectator
Project Labor Agreements could be used to undermine Right to Work laws and force double payment of benefits
Blog
California Card Check: Just Sign Here
The card check bill soon to be sitting on California Governor Jerry Brown’s desk is another attempt by labor unions to take away worker rights.
Blog
Obama Calls on Federal Agencies to Move to Alternative Fuel Vehicles by 2015
Today, President Obama issued a memorandum that directed executive agencies to develop purchasing and deployment plans for replacing the entire federal vehicle fleet with…
Blog
If You Can’t Defend It, Don’t Spend It
Openmarket.org Legislators in Louisiana are proposing an ingenious bill entitled, “Public Employee Bargaining Transparency Act” (PEBTA). If enacted, Louisiana would become only the seventh state…
Blog
The Politics of Public Pension Underfunding
To date, the debate over public pensions has focused largely on accounting methods — how best to estimate the level of current funding needed to…
Blog
If You Can’t Defend It, Don’t Spend It
Legislators in Louisiana are proposing an ingenious bill entitled, “Public Employee Bargaining Transparency Act” (PEBTA). If enacted, Louisiana would become only the seventh state to…
Blog
The Loony Left Era
The Economist has this to say about the NLRB’s pursuit of Boeing: The NLRB is an autonomous body, but its board members are appointed…
Blog
Stimulus Wiped Out a Million Private Sector Jobs
The economy may be slowly recovering, but that’s in spite of — not because of — the recent orgy of federal spending. Two economics professors,…
Blog
Trumka’s Empty Threat to Democrats
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is warning Democratic politicians today: Push our agenda, or we won’t support you in the 2012 election. It’s hard to imagine…
Blog
Forced Unionization: Bad for Business?
Only four short months ago President Obama said: If we make America the best place to do business, businesses should make their mark in…
The American Spectator
Will Unions Leave the Democrats?
CEI’s Labor Policy Counsel Vincent Vernuccio weighs in on AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s recent threat to Democratic leaders. Vincent…
Blog
In Other TSA News…
TSA officials recently performed a bomb drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and didn't tell anyone about it in advance.
Blog
TSA Sing-Along
The good folks at Reason.tv have released an educational music video about the TSA featuring singer-songwriter-comedian Remy. Worth watching.
Blog
This Time, Many Jobs May Be Gone For Good
Pajamas Media Americans have a lover’s faith in technology. And no wonder: for much of American history, technological innovation has lifted millions out of poverty,…
Blog
Fighting Back Against Obama’s Big Labor Favoritism
Republicans in both Houses of Congress are answering the Obama administration’s overreach in union favoritism. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee…
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