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
National Review
A Less Perfect Union
Charlie Kirk’s tragic murder has had ramifications across America, but one of its strangest consequences has been to bring a venerable British institution to the brink…
Blog
Impasse over NLRB nominee may be just what unions want
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee yesterday approved one of President Trump’s nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main…
Blog
Next BLS head needs be an innovator, not a loyalist
President Trump nominated E.J. Antoni to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) because he wanted someone to modernize and update the agency’s methodology.
Search Posts
Blog
The Right to a Green Job?
Demand for wind turbine blades in Europe has slipped, apparently, so a British company that makes them, Vestas, has plans to let go 625 workers…
Blog
Billions More for Wasteful Auto Bailouts
The auto bailouts keep expanding. Billions more are going to be spent on wealthy auto-dealers, cash-for-clunkers, politically-correct cars few people will buy, and excessive benefits…
Newsletter
Heat Waves, UAW Arrogance and the Costs of Obesity
Locations across the nation see record-cold summer temperatures, confounding global warming predictions. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) chastises United Auto Workers chief Ron Gettelfinger for refusing…
Blog
The Wall Street Journal on the Union Pension Debacle
Two weekend Wall Street Journal editorials sum up well the ticking time-bomb of underfunded union pension funds. First, the dire state of many union…
Blog
UAW Gives Taxpayers the (Gettel)finger
Considering the enormous amounts of cash that the federal government has hurled at the auto industry since the start of the financial crisis, recipients…
Blog
Exploiting the Minimum Wage
Young people with little or no work experience may not be able to offer $7.25 per hour worth of productivity; small wonder so many of…
Blog
Obama Health-Care Plan Destroys Cheap Health-Care Options, Raises Taxes, Breaks Promises
In 2008, Obama promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. But he is now breaking that promise by…
Newsletter
Labor Politics, Government Paternalism and Tobacco Profits
Labor unions push to establish “binding arbitration” in contract negotiations. The nomination of law professor Cass Sunstein to oversee new federal regulations moves forward. Cigarette…
Citation
Employee Free Choice Act Is Coercive Even Without Card Check
Blog
NRO on EFCA’s Binding Arbitration Provision
Today’s National Review Online editorial looks at the so-called Employee Free Choice Act’s arbitration provision, which would subject newly unionized companies to having a…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: Sliding Car Doors
A new set of rules for sliding car doors will come into effect on September 1, 2010.
Newsletter
Big Labor in Congress, Private Conservation and White House Science Policy
Potentially dramatic changes in U.S. labor law make their way through the legislative process. Efforts to eliminate E. coli contamination on farms leads to unintended…
Blog
Union Pension Fund Bailout Taking on a New Form
Senate Democrats and organized labor leaders are reportedly near a deal on removing the card-check provision from the s0-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). That…
Blog
George Will on the UPS/Teamsters Campaign against FedEx
Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” describes a world in which the utopian dream of equality has been achieved beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings: “Nobody was…
Blog
Health care taxes — devastating effects for NYC
Lead headline on the Drudge Report today – “Terrifying 57% tax looms for biggest earners in NYC.” It links to a…
Op-Eds
Obama Administration = Waste, Corruption, Corporate Welfare
Rapidly-rising Medicare spending already threatens “to crush the federal budget,” and much Medicare spending is wasteful, yet the Obama Administration claims it can somehow…
Blog
Reason’s Shikha Dalmia on EFCA’s Binding Arbitration Provision
With Al Franken joining the Senate, public attention is again turning to the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). In the weekend Wall Street Journal,…
Newsletter
Sotomayor in the Senate, The New GM and State Farm in Florida
Judge Sonia Sotomayor prepares for her confirmation hearings in the Senate. A slimmed-down General Motors emerges from bankruptcy. Florida’s insurance commissioner claims to have “a…
Citation
They’re From the Government, And They’re Here To Help (Set Your Contract Terms)
Citation
Card Check’s Dirty Little Secret
Blog
Reason’s Michael Moynihan on the SEIU Chavistas
At Reason Hit & Run, Michael C. Moynihan looks at the Service Employees Internatinoal Union’s harassing of broadcasters who air ads opposing the so-called…
Blog
Regulation of the Day: The Size of Your Carry-On Bags
The Securing Cabin Baggage Act wouldn't add to security, wouldn't make flying more convenient, and may well be the result of rent-seeking.
Blog
Washington Post Sells White House Access to Lobbyists, and Misreports Obama Health-Care Facts
Until it was publicly-exposed, the Washington Post was selling its access to the White House to lobbyists. As Politico reported, “For…
Op-Eds
Government-Forced Contracts are Card Check’s Real Threat
The Employee Free Choice Act includes a Card Check section to eliminate the secret ballot in union organization elections. The outcry against this antidemocratic process…
Blog
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of White and Hispanic Firefighters in Ricci v. DeStefano
The Court reversed a decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, including Judge Sonia Sotomayor. . . The Supreme Court held that this was…
Newsletter
Waxman-Markey in the Senate, Tobacco Regulation and Big Labor’s Payday
The Waxman-Markey climate bill passes the House of Representatives. President Obama signs a new law expanding federal regulation of tobacco products. The Waxman-Markey climate bill…
Blog
Krugman Undermines Waxman-Markey Job Creation Claims
Today, National Public Radio held a pep rally for the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, with Paul Krugman as head cheerleader. No critic of the bill…
Blog
Green Pork and (Davis) Bacon
The alliance between organized labor and leftist environmentalists remains as strong as ever. As Carter Wood at Shopfloor.org notes, the Waxman-Markey climate change bill…
News Release
Proposed Labor Rules Would Give Government Power to Impose New Union Contracts
Legislation currently before Congress could rewrite the rules for negotiating union contracts, giving the federal government power to unilaterally impose a contract on an employer,…
Blog
Obama’s Job-Killing Stimulus Package Replaced Investments With Welfare, Out of Political Correctness
Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package was purged of most investments in roads and bridges, and filled instead with welfare and social spending,…
Study
A Primer on the Employee Free Choice Act’s Arbitration Provision
EFCA clause allows government power to forcefully impose contracts on parties…
Op-Eds
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Untouched in Financial Overhaul
The mortgage crisis was caused largely by the reckless government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and by federal affordable-housing mandates. But Obama’s…
Op-Eds
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Untouched in Financial Overhaul
The mortgage crisis was caused largely by the reckless government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and by federal affordable-housing mandates. But Obama’s…
Blog
Obama Administration’s Anti-Travel Policies Hit New Low
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new passport requirements implemented at the U.S.-Canada border. As I noted at the time, most Americans–including…
Op-Eds
Ecuador’s Counterproductive Fight Against Illegal Immigration
Ecuador’s government has devised a new way to discourage illegal immigrants, mainly from Cuba and China, from entering into fake marriages with natives in…
Op-Eds
Time for a Raise
Are Democrats in Congress really not supporting a Republican bill to allow union workers to earn more money? That was not a misprint: Republicans in…
Blog
Stimulus = Welfare + Quotas + Corruption
Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package is now being used to force states to adopt racial quotas in government contracts, even if their state constitution…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Latest Economic Overhaul Calls for More Risky Loans
The President has just announced proposals for a massive overhaul of the financial system. The proposals would force banks to make even MORE risky…
Newsletter
FCC Hearings, Banning Plastic Bags and Union Graft in Detroit
Federal Communications Commission chairman-designate Julius Genachowski faces a confirmation hearing in the Senate. Cities across the country move to ban plastic grocery bags. Trustees of…
Blog
Motoring around the World on Motor City Workers’ Dime
Detroit can astound even the most seasoned political cynic, and now it’s done it again. As the Detroit Free Press reports, the trustees…
Newsletter
GM’s Bankruptcy, Barney Frank on CNBC and Internet Poker Persecution
The bankruptcy of General Motors is expected to proceed quickly in the wake of Chrysler’s reorganization. House Finance Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) storms off…
Op-Eds
Obama Administration = Waste, Corruption, Corporate Welfare
Rapidly-rising Medicare spending already threatens “to crush the federal budget,” and much Medicare spending is wasteful, yet the Obama Administration claims it…
Blog
In Cover-Up, Obama Fires Inspector General to Shield Crony and Waste Taxpayer Money
Obama is firing an inspector general, Gerald Walpin, who uncovered wrongdoing by a prominent Obama supporter and opposed letting him off the hook. Ironically,…
Op-Eds
Suit Over Raunchy Radio Programs To Be Reheard in Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide
Can you sue your employer because your co-workers listen to raunchy radio programs? A federal appeals court is reconsidering its 2008 ruling…
Blog
Eleventh Circuit Grants Rehearing in Reeves v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Which Gutted Statutory Limits on Sexual Harassment Claims
Can you sue your employer because your co-workers listen to raunchy radio programs? A federal appeals court is reconsidering its 2008 ruling…
Blog
Public Wants Wasteful Stimulus Package Canceled
By a margin of 45% to 36%, the American people want to cancel the $787 billion stimulus package, reports pollster Rasmussen Reports. Economist…
Newsletter
Broadband Stimulus, Fiat Takes Over Chrysler and the UN’s World Oceans Day
Business and advocacy groups flood the Federal Communications Commission with comments on the agency’s proposed national broadband plan. Italian automaker Fiat…
Blog
Supreme Court Vacates Stay Order in Chrysler Case, Refuses to Rule on Legal Challenges At This Time
The full Supreme Court just vacated the stay that Justice Ginsburg earlier entered that had temporarily blocked the government’s plan for Chrysler. Why it…
Blog
Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Illegal Chrysler Giveaway to UAW
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg yesterday granted a stay temporarily blocking the government’s plan for Chrysler, which would give effectively give most of…
Blog
Stimulus Package Kills Jobs, Drives Up Unemployment
Unemployment is now even higher than the Obama Administration said it would be if there were no stimulus package. At least 1.5 million…
Blog
Illegal Takeover of Chrysler: Pension Funds Have Standing in Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler, LLC
Earlier, I wrote about the Indiana pension funds’ challenge to the Obama Administration’s plan to effectively give Chrysler to the UAW Union, while cheating…
Op-Eds
SOS Ballot: An Interview with Ernest Istook
Full document available in PDF Ernest Istook, Chairman of Save Our Secret Ballot (SOS Ballot), was interviewed by former Labor Department official…
Blog
Court Rebuffs Challenge to Illegal Chrysler Bailout and Takeover; Pension Funds Will Appeal to Supreme Court
A federal appeals court has refused to block the Administration’s illegal auto bailout, which rips off taxpayers and pension funds to enrich…
Blog
Illegal, Unfair Auto Bailout That Harms Retirees and Taxpayers Challenged in Chrysler Bankruptcy
The Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund is rightly challenging the diversion of tens of billions of dollars of federal TARP bank bailout money to…
Newsletter
The Costs of Regulation, Chrysler’s Bankruptcy and Teamsters on Strike
A new report from CEI finds that the annual cost of federal regulation is more than $1.1 trillion. A federal judge halts Chrysler’s planned bankruptcy…
Blog
Feinstein Withdraws Support for EFCA (for now)
California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein is withdrawing her support for the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), organized labor’s top legislative priority, reports a…
Blog
Union Keeps Special Privileges Through Taxpayer Bailout of General Motors
The federal government is spending more than $50 billion to bail out General Motors, with no end in sight. But the UAW union…
Blog
Teamsters’ Pension Fund Panic
The Teamsters union is threatening a strike that could cripple the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Reports AP: The Teamsters union is threatening a strike it says…
News Release
CEI Praises Appeals Court for Halting Chrysler Bankruptcy
Kudos to the judges on the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for putting a stay on the Obama administration’s nationalization scheme for the bankruptcy…
Blog
Obama Panders to the UAW: $30 Billion More for Wasteful Auto Bailout
The federal government is giving another $30 billion in taxpayer money to General Motors to allow it to operate without having to cut…
Blog
Corporate Welfare on a Vast Scale: Obama’s Cap-and-Trade Scam Threatens Economy
One of Obama’s own advisers admits that the cap-and-trade energy-rationing scheme backed by the “Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats” would “have a trivially small…
Blog
Stimulus Package Shrinks Economy, Destroys Private Sector Jobs
Most of the $800 billion stimulus package has yet to be spent, but it’s already harming the economy, both by triggering trade wars that have…
Blog
Wasteful Obama Auto Bailouts Disturb Even Liberal Washington Post
Even the liberal Washington Post, which endorsed Obama and has not backed a Republican for president since 1952, is getting fed up with the…
Blog
The AFL-CIO’s “Creative Accounting”
The AFL-CIO has obscured its poor financial condition through “creative accounting,” says Machinists union President Tom Buffenbarger, reports Associated Press. Tom Buffenbarger, president of…
Newsletter
The Credit Card Bill of Rights, Chrysler’s Bankruptcy and Carbon Trading
President Obama signs the credit card “bill of rights” into law. A federal bankruptcy judge prepares to rule on Chrysler’s financial future. Carbon trading is…
Blog
Divorce Courts Harass Our Troops and Small Businesses
Memorial Day is an opportunity to thank our troops, and open our eyes to the disgraceful way they are treated by divorce courts. The bias…
Blog
Obama CAFE kills
President Obama unveiled Tuesday a plan to sharply increase federal gas mileage rules for vehicles sold in the United States, eventually bringing the requirement up…
Blog
Chrysler Confronts Grim Future, Despite Billions in Taxpayer Subsidies
The federal government poured billions of dollars into Chrysler, which then went bankrupt and merged with Fiat. But Chrysler may never revive, thanks to absurdly…
Blog
Fulfilling Prophecies
CBO estimated today that unemployment will top out at around 10.5% before it recovers. Congress is doing its part to make CBO’s dire prophecy a…
Blog
Retirees, Taxpayers Ripped Off to Subsidize UAW
Obama accused critics of his decision to give control of Chrysler to the United Auto Workers Union of being “speculators.” But it turns out…
Op-Eds
I’m All Right, Barack: The Perils of a Nationalized Car Maker
President Obama’s takeover of General Motors is a disaster in the making. Not only is it bad for GM, it also sets terrible legal…
Blog
Wasteful Stimulus Package Fails Even In Short Term
1.2 million Americans have lost their jobs since the $800 billion stimulus package was signed into law. The Congressional Budget Office predicted it would…
Newsletter
Cap and Trade, GM’s Bankruptcy and Whole Foods’ Woes
Democrats formally unveil a 932-page bill to restrict greenhouse gas emissions. General Motor Corp.’s proposed bankruptcy filing pits union retirees against GM investors. Profits for…
Blog
Stimulus Ignites Job-Killing Trade War With Canada
The $800 billion stimulus package pushed through by Obama has ignited a trade war with Canada, reports the Washington Post. In response to vague…
Blog
Adviser Admits Obama’s Tax Increases May Kill Economic Recovery
Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, warns that “the barrage of tax increases proposed in President Barack Obama’s budget could . . . kill any chance of…
Blog
Lincoln Remains Opposed to EFCA
The possibility of parts of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), specifically EFCA’s binding arbitration provision, coming back into the political arena has focused…
Blog
Deficit Skyrockets to $1.8 Trillion
The White House predicts the budget deficit will top $1.8 trillion, four times 2008’s record. Obama has sought to blame the deficit on Bush.
Blog
Taxing Away American Jobs
Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the foreign operations of U.S. businesses may destroy management and professional jobs in the U.S., will put American business…
Newsletter
Chrysler’s Bankruptcy, Small Businesses Fight Back and New York’s War on Bottled Water
Financial analysts size up what Chrysler’s entrance into Chapter 11 bankruptcy means for customers and employees. Small business owners band together to oppose new union…
Blog
“Gangster government gave Chrysler to the UAW”
So reads the Washington Examiner’s editorial today about how Obama effectively gave ownership of Chrysler to the United Auto Workers Union (which spent…
Blog
George McGovern on Binding Arbitration
With Democrats just shy of the 60 votes they need to end a filibuster, the fate of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act remains in…
Op-Eds
GM Troubles Repeat British Auto Industry Mistakes of the 1970s
General Motors is now co-owned by the American taxpayer and labor unions. As a Briton, I find this development astonishing. It repeats…
Townhall
Green Jobs: All Pain for No Gain
It is said that there is a scientific consensus on global warming. There isn’t, but there is an economic consensus that policies based on…
Blog
Detroit, D.C.
Today’s Wall Street Journal further drives home the difficult position in which the United Auto Workers, Chrysler, and General Motors are likely to find themselves…
Blog
Fed Policies Contradict Each Other
Low-inflation monetary policy and low-unemployment monetary policy contradict each other. The results speak for themselves.
Townhall
Back from the Dead
The Employee Free Choice Act is dead, long live the Employee Free Choice Act. On Tuesday Sen. Arlen Specter D-PA announced he will be switching…
Blog
Specter Switches, Says He’ll Still Oppose Card Check, Then What?
There’s nothing worse for an economy than uncertainty. Today, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has thrown large swathes of America’s struggling economy into a guessing game,…
Newsletter
Cybersecurity, Chrysler in Bankruptcy and Union Finances
A congressional investigation of security breaches at the Pentagon targets popular file sharing programs like LimeWire. After extensive bailout efforts, Chrysler moves to file for…
Blog
Farewell Union Transparency
Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis repeals vital reporting regulations which allowed union members to know how their hard earned dues money was being spent…
Townhall
Obama Sells Out Union Workers
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised accountability and transparency. Last Tuesday, his administration broke that promise to yet another group. Department of Labor Secretary…
Blog
Obama credit card meeting — should meet with economists instead
Instead of meeting with the executives of credit card issuers and sactimoniously lecturing them about not raising rates, as he is doing…
Newsletter
Healthy Eating, Big Labor Fights Itself and the War on Mining
A new Food and Drug Administration study sparks debate over the health benefits of eating fish. Factions of the labor union known as UNITE-HERE fight…
Blog
Unions Disunited — and Fighting
The civil war between the two factions that until recently made up the union UNITE-HERE heated up further this week. Yesterday, the leadership…
Blog
People Make Earth Day Better
This year, we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute are suggesting that those who will be celebrating Earth Day remember the challenges presented by living in…
Blog
Between the Headlines:”Sustainability” Means Sustainably Poor
“Mars Sets Goal for Sustainable Cocoa Sources” Another Washington Post story suggests that “sustainability” –whatever it may mean — still can…
Newsletter
Bailout Power Grab, Abuse of Power in New York and Rising Sea Level Panic
White House economic advisers plan to convert government holdings in bailed out banks to common stock, increasing direct government control. New York State insurance chief…
Newsletter
Anti-Tax Tea Parties, College Quotas and Job-Killing Regulations
People across the nation rally to oppose high taxes and government spending in the spirit of the original Boston Tea Party. President Obama’s apparent support…
Newsletter
Tax Day Protests, Small Car Safety and Union Organizing
People across the country gather to protest high taxes and excessive government spending. A new crash test study finds that smaller cars are especially vulnerable…
Townhall
1,000,000 Tea Bags Find a Home
After park officials turned away Tea Party protesters' 1 million tea bags, the press conference was moved to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. We were happy…
American Spectator
A Good Time to Start Liquidating
The announcements by Senators Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and BlancheLincoln (D-Ark.) that they intend to vote against cloture on theso-called Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has…
