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
CEI Podcast for January 12, 2012: Mistaken Deportations
Immigration Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh tells Jakadrien Turner's story and what it means for the immigration reform debate.
Blog
EEOC Says High-School Diploma is Discriminatory Requirement, Stretches Employment Laws to Harm Small Employers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently posted a letter on its website claiming that it is illegal for employers to have a high-school diploma requirement…
Blog
Big Labor Political Influence Does Not Make Union Bosses Labor Experts
Openmarket.org A well-known fact is Big Labor’s powerful political influence. According to Opensecrets.org, five of the top 10 all-time federal campaign political donors are unions.
Blog
Supreme Court Rejects Obama Administration Power Grab Over Churches in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
The Supreme Court has rejected the Obama administration's argument that it can dictate who churches hire as ministers or clergy in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical…
Op-Eds
The Non-Union for Restaurant Workers
When is a union not a union? When it decides that organizing a majority of workers is too much trouble and that it can win…
Blog
New York MTA Contract Negotiations Show Dangers of Binding Arbitration
In most jurisdictions, government employees responsible for public safety and other essential government services are not allowed to strike. In exchange for unions giving up…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 204: How to Buy Liquor
Self-checkout lanes have been popping up in grocery stores across the country over the last several years. Some people worry that without the adult supervision…
Op-Eds
Mistaken Deportation of Texas Teen Highlights the Rigid, Incompetent Immigration Bureaucracy
The unintended consequences of government regulations on the U.S. economy are disastrous. Among the most harmful are regulations that restrict immigration—the movement of laborers and…
Citation
Obama’s Abuse of Power Threatens to Shut Down Senate
Op-Eds
No Time for Advice and Consent
On Wednesday, President Obama infuriated Republicans and threatened to spark a constitutional crisis when he announced he would make four recess appointments during a…
Blog
Judge Upholds Michigan Union Power Grab
A federal judge in Michigan has denied class action status to a lawsuit brought by a group of independent child care workers who objected to…
Blog
Rhode Island’s Bold Pension Reforms Point the Way Forward
To describe pension reform, Utah State Senator Dan Liljenquist put it best: "This is not a conservative-versus-liberal issue, this is a reality issue." Liljenquist…
Blog
Congressional Democrats Join Republicans’ Call for GAO Investigation into California High-Speed Rail Boondoggle
In a letter sent Tuesday to the Government Accountability Office, 11 House Democrats called on the watchdog agency to investigate California's high-speed rail program. The…
Politico
Left Bloggers Hail “New Obama”
Politico
F. Vincent Vernuccio: NLRB and Union Bosses
Vincent Vernuccio: NLRB and Union Bosses…
Blog
Public Pensions Fuel Government Growth
The straitened finances afflicting state and local governments across the nation have brought unprecedented scrutiny to government employees’ compensation, particularly pensions. As pro-market critics have…
Hot Air
Obama Follows Cordray Recess Appointment With Three More to NLRB
News Release
Obama Surprise Recess Appointments Are End-Run Around Democracy, Senate
Washington, DC, January 4, 2011 – President Obama’s decision to make a slew of surprise recess appointments today drew criticism from CEI experts.
Blog
Obamacare Causes Layoffs in Medical Device Industry, Harms Medical Innovation
Ramesh Ponnuru writes about the layoffs and lost jobs resulting from Obamacare's new tax on medical devices at Bloomberg News: A year from…
Blog
Driving Continues to Decline in 2011
October 2011 marked the eighth straight month [PDF] of declining year-over-year vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) in the U.S. Compared to October 2010, driving was down…
Blog
Pension Tsunami, Record Federal Spending Increase U.S. Debts by $4.2 Trillion; State Debts Explode
Massive budget deficits and mushrooming pension, Social Security, and Medicare obligations increased the federal government's long-term obligations by $4.2 trillion in 2011 -- more than three…
Hot Air
Georgia’s Anti-Capitalist Immigration Law
Portions of Georgia’s new anti-immigration law will go into effect on January 1. The law is part of a recent state-level…
Business Insider
Minnesota Battle Over Proposed Childcare Union Heats Up
Blog
America’s Businesses Get It: Immigration Is Good
Anti-immigration advocates believe that harsh new laws will drive illegal immigrants out of the United States. They ignore the fact that the primary victim…
Blog
Obamacare Stifles Job Creation, Causes Layoffs
At Bloomberg News, Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc., explains how the 2010 healthcare law is preventing jobs from being created and resulting…
Blog
Washington Post: “Obama’s Green Technology Program was Infused with Politics at Every Level”
The Obama administration’s green-energy programs were driven by politics, not the public interest or sound policies. As The Washington Post recently noted in discussing…
Blog
Gov. Mark Dayton (D-Big Labor)
National Right to Work Committee Trey Kovacs looks at Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s quest to empower union bosses by any means necessary: Minnesota State Senator…
Business Insider
UAW Speaks More Softly, Still Carries Big Stick
United Auto Workers President Bob King announced a change in strategy earlier in December, saying that his union would not target specific automakers in right-to-work…
Blog
Businessmen: Obamacare Stops Them from Hiring
Journalist John Stossel describes how "three successful businessmen came on" his TV show last week "to explain how Obamacare is a reason that unemployment stays…
National Right to Work Committee
Gov. Mark Dayton: D-Big Labor
Blog
Governor Dayton’s Baleful Influence on Labor Relations
Openmarket.org Minnesota State Senator Mike Parry (R-Waseca) recently caused a stir with strong accusations against Governor Mark Dayton. “It’s no secret that the labor…
Blog
Governor Dayton’s Baleful Influence on Labor Relations
Minnesota State Senator Mike Parry (R-Waseca) recently caused a stir with strong accusations against Governor Mark Dayton. “It's no secret that the labor unions helped…
National Right to Work Committee
Behind the UAW’s Aw Shucks Smile
Bob King’s pants are on fire. Or they would be if the old saying (“liar liar…” ) were true. The United Auto Workers (UAW) President…
News Release
Labor Rules Revamped by NLRB, Workers and Businesses Have Less Time to Make Big Decisions
Washington, DC, December 21, 2011 – The National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday announced a new rule aimed at rushing elections for union-organizing, whittling down…
Blog
Obama Administration Betrays America’s Friends Overseas
America is now “turning its back” on Iraqis who helped the U.S., contradicting Obama’s rhetoric on the campaign trail. Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Anti-American…
The American Spectator
Obama’s Big Labor Wins a Big One
Unions have been disappointed by the Obama administration's inability to move their agenda forward. But they finally won a victory last week. This is bad…
Blog
Useless Law School “Educations” Shielded Against Improvement and Competition by Special-Interest-Driven Regulations
The New York Times featured an excellent news story Sunday by David Segal on the costly white elephant that is legal education in America.
Blog
Media Neglect NLRB Overreach
The notorious Boeing vs. NLRB lawsuit is settled. Unfortunately, only Big Labor and the Obama administration gain from the Boeing and IAM agreement. Boeing chose…
The American Spectator
Iowa Compact: A Way Forward on Immigration?
With the national spotlight on the Republican Iowa caucuses, a group of prominent Iowans are also entering the immigration fray. On Tuesday they produced…
Blog
Crushing Student Loan Debt to Pay for Useless “Educations” that Provide Only Paper Credentials, Not Knowledge
Student loan debt is rising at an exponential rate, as an illustration at the Daily Dish shows (at this link). A college tuition…
Blog
CEI Podcast for December 15, 2011: Drilling for Roads
Land-use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner looks at House Republicans' "drilling for roads" proposal and finds it wanting.
The American Spectator
Employment Law Roundup
Blog
NTSB Recommends Useless National Ban on All Mobile Phone Use while Driving
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday called on all states to ban "the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (other than those designed…
Blog
Immigration is Good for Natives
Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia are joining the list of states with tough anti-immigration laws. On January 1, most of those laws…
Blog
Medicaid Payments Go to Dead People, As Do Food Stamps and Stimulus Package Money
The State of Maryland spends millions of Medicaid dollars on dead people, “about half of it from the federal government,” notes The Washington Examiner.
Blog
In a Nation of Immigrants, Being Anti-Immigration is a Loser
As most of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination try to outdo each other in blasting undocumented immigrants, they should take a break to…
Blog
Phoenix Government Unions Look for More Money for Nothing
Openmarket.org Recently, the Goldwater Institute filed suit against the city of Phoenix for inappropriately subsidizing government unions. The complaint alleges that collective bargaining agreements between the…
The American Spectator
Boeing Double-Teamed by Union, NLRB
Blog
Phoenix Government Unions Look for More Money for Nothing
Recently, the Goldwater Institute filed suit against the city of Phoenix for inappropriately subsidizing government unions. The complaint alleges that collective bargaining agreements between…
Blog
The GOP Response to TSA Strip-Searches
The TSA has allegedly strip-searched an elderly woman for wearing a back brace. They wrongly suspected it was a money belt. This search was security-unrelated;…
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