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
West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Right to Work
The Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia ruled that if a worker says, “No, thank you, I’d rather not be a union member,” he…
Blog
Newsom Doubles Down on AB5
California Governor Gavin Newsom said there was no chance that he would suspend, even temporarily, Assembly Bill 5, the state law that strictly limits contractors…
Blog
California’s #NeverNeeded AB5 Is Harming the Coronavirus Response
California’s AB5 law was already backfiring before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It has cost thousands of jobs—many of which are home-based. During a time of…
Blog
How to Spot a #NeverNeeded Regulation
Not every regulation on the books is directly harming the COVID-19 response. There are a lot of other regulations that need reform, but the #NeverNeeded…
Blog
Robots Are Here to Make Your Job Safer and Cleaner
Positive stories about win-win results from the march of automation are everywhere in our economy, but they don’t get told and repeated enough. The workers…
Inside Sources
Post-Virus Economics — Working Toward a Small Business Recovery
When the stay-at-home orders are lifted, we’ll be in a race to get millions of Americans back to work. Large companies will be in a…
News Release
701k Jobs Lost in March 2020: Statement by Iain Murray
In response to today's abysmal jobs report tallied by the federal government – 701,000 jobs lost in March as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Blog
Joint Employer Rule Gives Much-Needed Certainty to Franchises
The National Labor Relations Board finalized a rule last week that will bring much needed relief and certainty to the franchise industry and other industries…
Blog
The Minimum Wage Tax Increase
By far the most common criticism of minimum wages is that they cost jobs.
Comment
CEI Comments on Intermediate Bodies Rule
Dear Director Rosenfield, On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, I respectfully submit the following comments. Founded in 1984, the Competitive Enterprise Institute is a…
Blog
The Spectrum Case against AB5
California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) is intended to classify more independent contractors as formal employees. The goal is for workers to get higher wages and…
Washington Examiner
Diminished Expectations: Democratic Labor Bill Waters Down ‘Card Check’
Washington Examiner cites senior fellow Ryan Young on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act): That’s close enough to card check,…
Blog
House to Vote on PRO Act This Week
The House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The legislation would essentially nullifies 28…
Blog
Minimum Wages Rise Across the Country
Twenty four states rang in 2020 with minimum wage increases. Most of the increases are modest, so the tradeoffs will be, too. But there was…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing PRO Act
Dear Member of Congress, We are writing in opposition to the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Bobby Scott…
The Hill
Why are Labor Union Reforms Only Necessary for Mexican Workers?
The primary purpose of free trade agreements is to break down barriers to the free flow of goods across borders so consumers have access to…
Blog
Year in Review 2019: Labor and Employment
The Competitive Enterprise Institute had a busy year in the labor and employment space. Much of the work focused on expanding worker freedom, ending wasteful…
The Wall Street Journal
Another California Job Buster
The Wall Street Journal cites CEI’s study on A.B. 5 by Research Fellow Ryan Radia: Bloggers will be able to apply for full-time…
The Heartland Institute
Report: Project Labor Agreements Have Cost New Jersey Taxpayers Half a Billion Dollars Since 2002
The Heartland Institute cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on PLAs: PLAs put unionized workers in a privileged position, says Trey Kovacs, a policy…
News Release
Report: California A.B. 5 Labor Law Will Mean Huge Costs for Rideshare Companies, Drivers, Consumers
A Competitive Enterprise Institute report crunches numbers on California’s new law imposing massive costs and impediments for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, along with…
Study
California Ride Share Contracting Legislation Is a Solution in Search of a Problem
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 5 (A.B. 5) into law on September 18, 2019.[1] The legislation, which generally takes effect…
Blog
National Labor Relations Board Attack on McDonald’s Finally Over
A major holdover case from the Obama-era National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which acted as the litigation arm of organized labor, is finally resolved. On…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Opposing H.R. 397, Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act
Dear Senators and Representatives: The undersigned organizations urge Congress to reject H.R. 397 the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions (Butch-Lewis) Act of 2019. Ultimately, this legislation…
Blog
How Kentucky Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Union Business
As taxpayers, we trust our locally elected officials to act as fiduciaries of our hard-earned dollars. However, it is well documented that the government frequently…
News Release
Report Finds Kentucky Wastes Tax Money on Labor Union “Release Time”
New information unearthed by a Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) open records inquiry reveals how Kentucky wastes taxpayer money on a little-known practice called union “release…
Study
Union Time on the Taxpayer Dime
“Forcing free and independent individuals to endorse ideas they find objectionable is always demeaning,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion in Janus v…
The Heartland Institute
Project Labor Agreements Have Cost New Jersey Taxpayers Half a Billion Dollars Since 2002
The Heartland Institute cites policy analyst Trey Kovacs on Project Labor Agreements: PLAs put unionized workers in a privileged position, says Trey Kovacs, a…
Reason
Target Employees Won The ‘Fight For $15’ but Weren’t Ready for the Trade-Offs
Reason cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on minimum wage: But the bottom line is that wage increases do not exist in a vacuum.
The Telegraph
Small Businesses Navigating Impending Minimum Wage Hikes
The Telegraph cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on minimum wage hikes: A study this month by the pro-limited-government think tank the Competitive Enterprise…
Los Angeles Daily News
The Cost of Ending Independent Work
The California legislature managed to pass a near statutory prohibition on independent work in misguided bid to “protect workers.” Lawmakers achieved this outcome by redefining…
Fox Business
Chicago Teachers Strike—What Benefits the Union vs. What Benefits Teachers and Students
For the second time in less than a decade, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) decided to go on strike. Since Thursday, the Chicago Public School…
The Washington Times
Trump Executive Orders Curtail Union Business on the Taxpayer Dime
Imagine each working day, federal employees report for work but do not perform any governmental duties. Instead, they work for a private enterprise void of…
Blog
Labor Relations Chief Corrects Record on ‘Joint Employer’ Rule
Chairman John Ring delivered the latest salvo in response to the manufactured “scandal” at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Democrats, with help from the…
Blog
Priorities for Department of Labor’s New Secretary
On September 30th, Eugene Scalia was sworn in as the 28th Secretary of Labor. Last week, the Senate confirmed Scalia on a 53-44 vote. With…
Blog
New Study: Minimum Wages Have Tradeoffs
Congress nearly increased the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour this year. Though the Raise the Wage Act is unlikely to pass…
News Release
Minimum Wage Increases Canceled Out by Non-Wage Losses: CEI Report
Is raising the minimum wage good for workers? A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute makes the case that there are serious tradeoffs lawmakers…
Study
Minimum Wages Have Tradeoffs
Raising the minimum wage is currently a top policy issue at the federal, state, and local levels. This paper opposes increases for three reasons, and…
News Release
Trump Labor Department Rule on Overtime Pay Scraps Toxic Obama-Era Ratchet
Today, the U.S. Labor Department released its long-awaited rule on overtime pay for salaried employees. Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy analyst Trey Kovacs praised the…
Blog
California to Eliminate Independent Work
Late Tuesday evening, the California legislature passed controversial legislation that would codify a state Supreme Court decision, which adopted a flawed test that effectively prohibits…
Blog
How Accounting Reform Can Help Address Public Pension Underfunding
By deferring compensation, in the form of pensions, and pushing those costs well into the future, politicians can gain favor with government employee unions, which…
Blog
Union Wish List Bill Would Harm Workers and the Economy
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) released a report that analyzes the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act of 2019 (H.R. 2474), which the…
News Release
Labor Union ‘Grab Bag’ Bill Takes Away Worker Choice, Greases Wheels for Unions
Workers should have the right and freedom to decide for themselves whether to join a union. But a proposed bill, the “Protecting the Right to…
Study
The Case against the Protecting the Right to Organize Act
The Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 (H.R. 2474) would radically overhaul United States labor relations law to facilitate labor union organizing without…
Blog
PRO Act Undermines Employee Choice
Democrats in Congress introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act with the state goal of strengthening union power and increasing union membership, which…
Blog
Underfunded Public Pensions Put Future Taxpayers on the Hook
One of the most well-known and enduring lessons of public choice economics is the dynamic of concentrated benefits and diffuse costs. Well-organized groups have both…
Blog
Greater Financial Transparency Could Prevent Next Union Scandal
Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation served indictments to several high level United Auto Workers (UAW) officials, some of who have already pleaded…
Comment
CEI Comments on DOL Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports for Trusts in Which a Labor Organization Is Interested
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Labor-Management…
Blog
Long Wait for Worker Freedom Finally Ends for Airline, Rail Employees
It is a banner day for employee choice. For the first time, airline and railroad workers have a direct path to remove an unwanted union.
Inside Sources
More Than Jobs – the Minimum Wage’s Many Tradeoffs
The House of Representatives will likely vote this week on a plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024. Much…
Blog
House Passes ‘Raise the Wage’ Act
The Raise the Wage Act, which passed the House on Thursday, would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025. The bill now moves…
Michigan Capitol Confidential
Minimum Wage Laws Hurt People
Michigan Capitol Confidential cites CEI’s coalition letter opposing a $15 minimum wage. This morning the Competitive Enterprise Institute mailed a letter to members of…
Politico, Morning Shift
$15 Minimum Wage Vote Today
POLITICO’s Morning Shift cites CEI’s coalition letter opposing a $15 minimum wage. An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the original version of the…
News Release
Minimum Wage Hike Passed by House Democrats Would Put Millions Out of Work
House Democrats today passed a federal minimum wage hike, $7.25 to $15 per hour, though with slim expected chance of gaining Senate passage. Politics aside,…
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Minimum Wage Laws Hurt People
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy cites a recent coalition letter led by CEI to oppose a $15 minimum wage. This morning the…
Blog
‘Raise the Wage Act’ Would Reduce Family Incomes, Increases Unemployment
Democrats view raising the minimum wage as a way to show they are are better for working-class Americans than Republicans. But no matter how high government…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter Opposing Raise the Wage Act
Dear Members of Congress: The undersigned organizations urge you to oppose the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582), which would set a $15 federal minimum…
Marketplace
Labor Department Deregulation Expected to Pick Up Steam After Acosta
Marketplace cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on deregulation efforts from the Department of Labor. “He certainly took what I would say is an…
Reason
At Least 80 Workers Are Losing Their Jobs at This Pennsylvania Steel Plant. Tariffs Are To Blame.
Reason cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on the effects of tariffs. “The layoffs at NLMK were entirely predictable. Tariffs disrupt supply chains…
Blog
Priorities for New Leadership at Department of Labor
There is a new sheriff in town at the Department of Labor. After Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta resigned today from his post, President Trump announced…
InsideSources
One Year After Janus, Conservatives Begin Difficult Campaign to Tackle Union Membership
InsideSources cites CEI on union transparency. A right-leaning think tank, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues that unions could be more financially transparent about how they use…
The Portland Press Herald
Commentary: A Year After Janus, Many Maine Workers Are Still Unaware of Their Rights
The Portland Press Herald cites CEI on litigation surrounding the Supreme Court’s Janus decision. This is just one example of how unions are…
Blog
State Legislatures Seek to Undermine ‘Janus’ Decision
Labor unions continue to deny the First Amendment rights of public employees despite the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Janus v. AFSCME, which ruled one…
The Boston Globe
Let There Be a Clean Break Between Unions, Nonmembers
The editorial “House gets it mostly right on labor law” misses the mark. The primary provision of the bill that the Globe finds sensible —…
Blog
Post-‘Janus’, Unions Continue Undermining Public Workers’ First Amendment Rights
It has been nearly one year since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the First Amendment rights of public employees, but many members are still having…
Blog
Democrats’ Criticism of Department of Labor Overtime Rule Misguided
Overtime regulation has been a hot topic since the Obama administration proposed and finalized a rule that radically overhauled such requirements. Before this rule, which…
The Washington Times
Kamala Harris Outlines Plan To Penalize Companies That Fail To Close Gender ‘Pay Gaps’
The Washington Times cites Senior Fellow Ryan Young on a legislative plan to penalize companies for gender pay disparties. Ryan Young, a senior…
The Tennessee Star
Trump Administration Ends Unions ‘Skimming’ $100 Million A Year From Medicaid
The Tennessee Star cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on Medicaid rule change made by the Trump Administration. “Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund…
Boston Globe
Unions are on Frontlines of Fight against Inequality
The Boston Globe cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on labor unions. And even when workers are unionized, they are often forced to bargain…
The Center Square
Trump Administration Ends Unions ‘skimming’ $100 Million Per Year from Medicaid
The Center Square cites Policy Analyst Trey Kovacs on labor unions and Medicaid. “Congress created Medicaid to exclusively fund care to the elderly…
Blog
Addressing the Gender Pay Gap: Culture, Not Legislation
Gender discrimination is a complex problem with a complex solution.
Blog
Federal Railroad Administration Withdraws Proposed ‘Featherbedding’ Train Crew Rule
Today, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released a draft notice indicating that it will be withdrawing a 2016 proposed rule that would have required trains…
Comment
CEI Comments to DOL on Overtime Rule
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we are pleased to submit the following comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule on…
Blog
Regulators Find Uber Drivers to Be Independent Contractors
Determining the proper legal worker classification for an individual has become an arduous task. A major reason for the difficulty is a patchwork of federal…
Blog
Hearing Discusses Boosting Union Coercive Powers
Democrats in Congress are pushing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act H.R. 2474, which seeks to strip workers of long-held protections and bolster…
National Review
President Trump Should Rediscover Regulatory Reform
President Trump, who made regulatory reform a priority early in his term, claims to have reduced federal regulatory burdens by $23 billion in fiscal year…
Blog
Trump Administration Ends Homecare Providers Dues Skim
Since 2000, state governments have diverted $1.4 billion from homecare providers and handed it to labor unions, according to the Freedom Foundation. For over a…
Blog
House Democrats Introduce Union Gift Bag Bill
The Protecting Workers’ Right to Organize (PRO) Act puts the interests of labor unions over workers. Each provision of the bill either grants unions greater…
News Release
Trump Administration to End Labor Union Medicaid Dues Skimming
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services took action to end labor union Medicaid dues skimming, promulgating a rule to fix that problem. The…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Letter to Department of Labor on Intermediate Bodies Rule
Dear Secretary Acosta: As free-market and conservative organizations concerned with protecting worker free choice and ensuring labor union officials are accountable to members, we urge…
Blog
Two-Tier Wage System Highlights Need for Labor Reform
Over the weekend, the eleven-day strike by more than 30,000 Stop & Shop employees ended. The grocery chain announced that it “has reached fair new…
The Washington Examiner
Mcdonald’s Says It Won’t Lobby on Minimum Wage
The Washington Examiner cited Senior Fellow Ryan Young on McDonald’s and minimum wage. “It’s just trying to get good PR,” Ryan Young, senior…
Blog
Union Membership Post-Janus
It has been difficult to gauge the impact of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME. In this ruling, the Supreme Court held…
Blog
Employers Good Deeds Punished by Administrative State
Progressives—Democratic elected officials, community organizers, and labor unions—incessantly disparage employers for failing to provide employees with a living wage, adequate time off, and quality health…
Blog
Sharing Economy Is Opposite of Servant Economy
In a bleak take on the sharing economy, Atlantic writer Alexis C. Madrigal says it has created a “servant economy,” where sharing economy platforms provide…
News Release
CEI Video Ad Tells Florida Taxpayers About Labor Union Subsidy
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is running an online-video ad campaign in Tallahassee to educate Florida taxpayers about legislation to end a longtime subsidy handed out…
Blog
Federal Agency Seeks to Create Direct Path for Ousting Unwanted Unions
National labor policy guarantees employees the right to form a union to promote their interests. There are clear, longstanding rules and procedures that provide a…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Rule Decertification of Representatives
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, I respectfully submit these comments in response to the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) Proposed Rule on the Decertification of…
Blog
Union Subsidy Faces Judicial Scrutiny
“When you’re hired as a teacher, you should be teaching,” said Judge Jose L. Fuentes of the New Jersey Court of Appeals. This statement is…
Blog
Why National Right to Work Act Is Necessary
No worker should be compelled to join or pay dues or fees to a union just to get or keep a job. The U.S. Supreme…
Blog
Democrats Invent New Joint Employer Controversy
There is a new invented controversy involving the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rulemaking, which seeks to clarify the definition of joint employer liability…
Blog
Labor Department Issues Proposed Update to Overtime Requirements
Last night, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) long-awaited proposed rule on overtime requirements was unveiled. The DOL intentionally wrote the rule to withstand legal challenge,…
News Release
CEI Comments on New Labor Department Rule on Overtime Pay
The Trump Labor Department put forward a new rule on overtime pay for salaried workers yesterday, that would increase the threshold for overtime eligibility from…
Blog
Federal Labor Ruling Prohibits Unions Charging Non-Members for Lobbying
It has long been the law of the land that labor unions may only collect agency fees, or forced union dues, from non-union members to…
Blog
California Supreme Court Upholds Pension Reform, Punts on ‘California Rule’
On Monday, March 4, the California Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, upheld a major provision in the state’s 2012 pension reform legislation, but punted…
Blog
Florida Bill Shines Light on Union Subsidy
Taxpayer dollars should be used to benefit the general public, not special interest groups. Yet, the state of Florida doles out a massive subsidy to…
Blog
What Do Economists Think about the Minimum Wage?
The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said that if you laid all the world’s economists end to end, they would not reach a conclusion. President…
Blog
Labor Officials Dragging Feet on Union Financial Transparency
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), a division within the Department of Labor (DOL), has been generally inactive during the Trump administration, an unfortunate reality…
Blog
Pension Obligation Bonds No Panacea for State Budget Liabilities
Illinois has a new governor and Chicago will soon have a new mayor—and the same old underfunded public pensions. Inheriting a predecessor’s debts is never…
Blog
Warren Buffett Warns about Unfunded Public Pension Liabilities—Again
Would you invest in a state with large unfunded pension liabilities? Warren Buffett likely wouldn’t. In a long interview with CNBC this week, the famed…
Blog
Real-World Effects of Pension Debt
Debates over public pension finance often have an abstract quality, taking place outside most people’s immediate concerns. Yet, the real-world effects can be quite tangible.
