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
Inflation increased by 0.2 percent in November but year-over-year inflation remains above the Fed’s target
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for November showed a 0.2 percent increase in inflation across all sectors, lower than market expectations. But the…
News Release
US economy added 64,000 jobs in November but underemployment and stagflation cause concern: CEI analysis
The US Labor Department released its report today on jobs added to the economy in November 2025, a modest gain. But underemployment and the…
Blog
Court rejects New York bid to take over federal labor enforcement
An effort by the New York legislature to usurp the role of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency,…
Search Posts
Human Events
At Thanksgiving, Big Grocery & Big Labor Attack Wal-Mart
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who will visit a Wal-Mart on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, don’t be surprised if…
Blog
Unions’ Taxpayer Subsidized Activity
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. But in Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County…
Real Clear Policy
Unions’ Taxpayer Subsidized Activity
Taxpayers expect their government to spend tax dollars only on activities that benefit the public. But in Kentucky, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County…
Blog
Dumbest Reason to Be Skeptical of Autonomous Vehicles: They Might Cost Auto Mechanics Their Jobs
Today, the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing on “How Autonomous Vehicles Will Shape the Future…
Blog
NLRB Considers Proposing Ambush Election Rule…Again
Finally, after a decade, the National Labor Relations Board is fully staffed with five Senate-confirmed members.
Blog
New Committee to Investigate Michigan Teachers Union Right to Work Violations
Although Michigan's right-to-work legislation took effect in March of this year, teachers have raised concerns that unions are using strong-arm tactics that prohibit them from…
News Release
On Right-To-Work Amendment: ‘Bravo for Senators from Kentucky and Mississippi … Shame on Sen. Reid’
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 – Though their effort did not meet with success, U.S. Senators from Kentucky and Mississippi deserve thanks for their efforts to offer…
Human Events
I Don’t Hate the Government; Its Unions Are a Different Story
As a libertarian I am often asked why I “hate” the government. “Hate” is a strong word, so I’ll leave the question’s key assumption for…
Blog
Obama Administration Rule Exempts Big Labor from Obamacare Tax
In September, the Obama administration rejected union demands for subsidies offered under Obamacare, which are reserved for the uninsured and low-income workers.
Blog
Labor Ballot Measure Roundup
Voters around the country faced numerous ballot measures yesterday, of which many involved labor policy.
News Release
On Right-To-Work Amendment: ‘Bravo for Sen. McConnell and Sen. Paul – shame on Sen. Reid’
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 – Though their effort did not meet with success, Kentucky’s U.S. Senators deserve thanks for their efforts to offer a National Right…
Blog
Memo to Road Socialists: There Is Nothing Unlibertarian about Road Pricing
Virginia just elected Democrat Terry McAuliffe as governor, as had been predicted by every poll conducted during the past few months -- although at a…
Blog
Senate Poised to Pass Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Yesterday, the Senate voted 61-to-30 to invoke cloture on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban workplace bias based on sexual orientation or…
Blog
House Passes Bill to Delay DOL Overreach
Last week, 30 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representative joined Republicans to approve the Retail Investor Protection Act, which delays the Department of Labor's…
Blog
Happy Halloween! FAA to Allow Portable Electronic Devices During All Flight Phases
A month ago, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) recommended that the agency drop its ban on portable electronic device (PED)…
Blog
Congressional Scorecard Update–Richard Griffin Confirmation
Yesterday, the Senate voted 55-44 to confirm Richard Griffin as the National Labor Relations Board general counsel, with Senator Lisa Murkowski as the sole Republican…
Blog
Jane Brody’s Uninformed Attack on Cars and Suburbia
While at a conference where participants discussed the wannabe social engineers cum urbanists' war on automobility and housing affordability, Jane Brody's broadside against Americans'…
Blog
Racial Preferences in Obamacare, and Discrimination, Too, Based on Weird Ideology
The Daily Caller has an interesting story about race-conscious provisions and racial preferences contained in Obamacare. It's a subject that has received remarkably little…
Blog
Racial Preferences and Red Tape Grow Under Federal Dodd-Frank Act
Last Friday on National Review's The Corner, Roger Clegg wrote about the 2010 law governing the financial sector, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the racial "diversity quotas"…
News Release
Oppose Obama’s Pick For NLRB General Counsel
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 – Richard Griffin, one of three members of the National Labor Relations Board who lost their seats when their “recess” appointments were…
Blog
More Bipartisan Opposition to Obama Administration’s Move to Block Airline Merger (Including Rahm Emanuel)
Another day, another round of public bipartisan opposition to the Obama Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block the pending American Airlines and US Airways merger.
Human Events
The Real Reasons We Have a Public Pensions Crisis
America’s public pension funds are in trouble because sketchy Mr. Wall Street sold some slack-jawed pension fund managers on risky investments with promises of high…
Blog
The NSA: Upgrading from Privacy Destruction to Job Destruction
At a recent Cato Institute event on NSA spying activities, the ACLU’s Chris Soghoian stated that NSA activities were not only a threat to…
The American Spectator
BART’s Bogus Ride
It was the 1970s and Britain was the “sick man of Europe.” Labor unions had toppled one Conservative government and were bullying the existing Labour…
Blog
Public Pensions Are Not Property
Across the nation, state and local governments in dire financial straits face great difficulty in their efforts to bring their budgets under control. Pensions are…
Blog
Loosened Laws in New Jersey Result in Brewery Boom
Only a year after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that would allow breweries in the garden state to sell beer…
Products
Freedom of Information Act Requests on Official Time During Government Shutdown
The following are Freedom of Information Act requests seeking documents related…
Blog
Controversial NLRB General Counsel Nomination Vote Approaching
Now that the partial government shutdown is over, its back to business as usual. As such, the Senate will tackle the controversial nomination of Richard…
Blog
More than a Third of House Dems Oppose Obama’s American-US Airways Merger Lawsuit; What Real Pro-Competition Policy Looks Like
Bipartisan opposition to the Obama administration’s reckless assault on the pending merger of American Airlines and US Airways is growing. While the end of the…
Blog
More Myths About the Government Shutdown
Young people often don't realize that government shutdowns used to be common, until the middle of the Clinton administration. The George W. Bush presidency was an exception…
Blog
Boston Bus Drivers Illegal Strike
On October 8, hundreds of Boston Public School union bus drivers went on a surprise strike, which left nearly 33,000 kids without a ride to…
Blog
Obama Administration Memo: Keep Paying Union Bosses on Official Time
Over the weekend, the House unanimously passed the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act. If passed by the Senate, all furloughed federal employees will receive…
The American Spectator
Labor analyst: Volkswagen workers claim ‘misled’ by UAW
Matt Patterson, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says the issue is important because, if it’s true, it would “significantly compromise” the union’s chances…
Blog
NYC Rubber Rooms Still Packed
Just three years ago, New York City Mayor Bloomberg and the United Federation of Teachers publicly heralded a deal to end "rubber rooms," the reassignment…
Blog
California Labor Board Rejects Farm Workers’ Petition to Decertify Union
On September 25, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board denied a petition submitted by Gerawan Farming workers to decertify the United Farm Workers union.
Blog
Farm Workers Resist Union Representation
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board show that less than 10 percent of employees actually voted for their…
Blog
Labor Department Imposes Disability Hiring Quotas, Even in Divisions that Don’t Get Federal Contracts
The Obama Labor Department has just finalized rules that will effectively require businesses that get federal contracts to adopt a 7 percent hiring quota for the…
Free Beacon
IBEW Criticizes EPA’s New Coal Emission Standards
“The unions oppose President Obama’s new coal rule for a simple reason: It’s terrible for the economy,” said William Yeatman, an energy policy expert at…
Blog
Private Lobbyists and Public Pensions Don’t Mix
Government officials mismanaging public funds is nothing new. But giving public pensions to private lobbyists is a new low. A recent Associated Press report uncovered…
Blog
Private lobbyists collecting public pensions is illegal gift
State and local pension funds face unfunded liabilities ranging from $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to various reports. This is well-known problem and many…
Free Beacon
CEI’s Patterson: Right-to-Work Laws Represent ‘Common Sense’
Matt Patterson, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is a strong advocate of states with right-to-work laws. These laws…
Blog
Worker Centers Collecting Federal Funds
This summer, worker centers gained public notoriety with staged strikes at fast-food restaurants and Wal-Mart. Their effectiveness in gaining media attention has not been lost…
Providence Journal
Private lobbyists collecting public pensions is illegal gift
State and local pension funds face unfunded liabilities ranging from $3 trillion to $5 trillion, according to various reports. This is well-known problem and many…
Blog
DOL Finalizes Companionship Rule
With little notice, on September 17, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez finalized a rule to extend the Fair Labor Standards Act--minimum wage and overtime protections--to nearly…
Blog
More Harm from “Disparate Impact” Regulations
Earlier, we wrote about the Obama administration’s attempt to inject a race-conscious “disparate impact” provision into colorblind anti-discrimination laws like the Fair Housing Act,…
Providence Journal
Wisconsin teachers union decertified in latest blow to labor under Walker law
But Matt Patterson, labor analyst with the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, claimed the vote was a sign that workers were turning their backs on…
Blog
Third Largest Wisconsin Teachers Union Members Exercise New Freedom
This week Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's government-sector collective bargaining reform was upheld in Federal District Court.
Providence Journal
UAW hopes to get recognition at Chattanooga VW plant without vote
Anti-union groups are already openly fighting the UAW’s move to organize at the plant. One, the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, even put a message on…
Blog
Update on American Airlines-US Airways Merger: Judge Approves American’s Bankruptcy Plan
Today, Judge Sean Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved American Airlines’s reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy protection,…
Providence Journal
UAW says most Chattanooga workers want union while opponents fear the worst, call for secret ballot
But, Matt Patterson, senior fellow for the Center for Economic Freedom at the Washington, D.C.-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he’s skeptical the UAW even has…
