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
Unintended Consequences of Unemployment Benefits
This letter of mine ran in today's New York Times in response to Paul Krugman's July 4 column.
Op-Eds
Bad Immigration Laws Are for Repealing, Not Enforcing
Immigration reform is at a crossroads. When Arizona passed its anti-immigration law in the spring, it said it was doing so because the federal government…
Op-Eds
Will 2010 be the Year States say Enough is Enough?
For decades, government employees at every level have received steadily increasing compensation—including salary, pensions, and health care benefits—thanks to the political clout of public employee…
CEI Planet
CEI Planet: May – June 2010
To view this issue of the CEI Planet, please click here to download the PDF file. Below are selected articles from the May-June 2010 issue: Collective…
Newsletter
Regulating Strippers, Blowout Prevention and Kagan’s Hearings
Missouri enacts “anti-stripper” legislation placing new restrictions on adult entertainment establishments. The House of Representatives holds a hearing on the Blowout Prevention Act. Elena Kagan’s…
Blog
Liberal Senators Make False Claims About Supreme Court’s Ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, During Kagan Confirmation Hearings
Liberal Senators like Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are peddling fables about a Supreme Court ruling, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Blog
Anti-stripper law could create more prostitution
As so many journalists have punned, recently passed anti-stripping legislation makes the “Don’t Show Me” state a far more appropriate nickname for Missouri. Yesterday, Gov.
Blog
Supreme Court Dooms Chicago Gun Ban; Obama Judicial Nominees Oppose Gun Rights; Religious Clubs Lose First Amendment Case; Removal of High-Ranking Bureaucrats Made Easier
The Supreme Court doomed Chicago’s handgun ban Monday by ruling 5-to-4 that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments…
Citation
Spreading Lies on the Ledbetter Case
Blog
Life Imitates The Simpsons – again
The Politico reports that Sen. Harry Reid (D.-NV) has hit on a new scheme for passing the chronically unpopular climate legislation that has been…
Op-Eds
Arizona Declares War on Capitalism
The most persistent misunderstanding about Arizona’s new anti-immigration law, SB 1070, is that it is about security. The law’s supporters argue that there is…
Blog
New Federal Interference With Oil-Spill Clean-Up: Feds Stop Louisiana From Dredging Needed to Create Protective Sand Berms
A TV station in New Orleans reports that “the federal government is shutting down the dredging that was being done to create protective sand…
Blog
Stimulus Package to Cost $75 Billion More Than Predicted; Plus, Government-Employee Bailout Sought
The stimulus package is going to cost at least $75 billion more than the $787 billion the Obama administration claimed, according to the Congressional…
Op-Eds
Constitutionality Aside, Look at the Economic Damage
Last week, the Obama administration confirmed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will file a lawsuit to challenge Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070 before…
Op-Eds
The Great Immigration Deception
Arizona’s controversial immigration law and Democratic responses to it have ignited a fierce political fight that will only intensify as the law goes into…
Newsletter
Oil Spill Assistance, Immigration Crackdown and Money for Nothing
The White House refused to allow foreign ships to assist with cleanup of the BP oil spill. Arizona’s immigration crack-down inspires a public referendum on…
Blog
Obama Administration Blocks Clean-Up of Oil Spill by Louisiana and Foreign Allies By Imposing Red Tape
The Obama Administration recently used red tape to force Louisiana to stop using 16 barges that were cleaning up the Gulf…
Op-Eds
The New King of Detroit
Yesterday, the United Auto Workers union (UAW) named Bob King as its new president. Does this mean a change in direction for one of…
Blog
Obama Uses Oil Spill to Push Failed Energy Policies
In his speech last night, President Obama used the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to push his failed energy policies, such…
Study
A Drought of Reason and Investigation
An Examination and Critique of the Center for Immigration Studies’ “A Drought of Summer Jobs”…
Blog
Financial “Reform” Bill Engages in Racial Engineering, While Ignoring Corrupt Mortgage Giants
Congress and the Obama administration refused to do anything about the corrupt government-sponsored mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even though administration…
Blog
Obama Blocked Clean Up of BP Oil Spill by Friendly Countries; International Assistance Blocked by Regulations Obama Had The Authority To Waive
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of the…
Blog
Obama Wants Taxpayers to Cough Up $50 Billion To Bail Out Public-Employee Unions
President Obama now wants Congress to spend $50 billion to keep state governments from laying off government employees. In essence, this is a bailout…
Op-Eds
Obama Refuses to Waive Law to Allow Foreign Help With Oil Spill
Crucial offers to help clean up BP’s oil spill “have come from Belgian, Dutch, and Norwegian firms that . . . possess some of…
Blog
Obama Fires Inspector General Who Uncovered Fraud, and Honors Defrauder Instead
Earlier, President Obama fired the inspector general for the AmeriCorps program after he uncovered fraud by Obama crony Kevin Johnson. (Johnson did not…
Newsletter
Murkowski v. EPA, Big Labor and Debit Card Fees
The Senate will vote today on Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act. Arkansas…
Op-Eds
Halter’s Loss a Major Blow for Big Labor
Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s failure to win his state’s Democratic nomination was a crushing defeat for organized labor, which went all-out…
Blog
BP Supported Obama Stimulus Package, Global Warming Bill, and Corporate Welfare; BP Bankrolled Obama Campaign
Columnist Tim Carney notes that BP, responsible for the massive oil spill, is “a close friend of big government whenever it serves the company’s…
Blog
Halter’s Loss a Major Blow for Big Labor
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter’s failure to win his state’s Democratic nomination is a crushing defeat for organized labor, which went all-out in…
Blog
Obama Uses BP Oil Spill to Push Corporate-Welfare-Filled Global Warming Bill That BP Once Lobbied For
Talk about chutzpah. President Obama, the biggest recipient of campaign cash from BP, is using BP’s oil spill to push for a global…
Blog
Media Give Disgraced Politician Eliot Spitzer a Soapbox to Lecture the Public
Eliot Spitzer, who was forced out as Governor of New York after paying prostitutes tens of thousands of dollars and then violating federal finance laws…
Blog
Obama Administration Pushes More Bailouts at Taxpayer Expense; America to Bail Out Corrupt Union Pension Funds
The Obama administration and its congressional allies are now pushing for billions more in bailouts for mismanaged union pension funds, and teachers unions. The union…
Op-Eds
Obama’s Next Bailout Beneficiaries: Corrupt Union Pension Funds
The Obama administration and its congressional allies are now pushing for billions more in bailouts for mismanaged union pension funds, and teachers unions.
Blog
Divorce Courts Mistreat America’s Soldiers 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
Massive Fare Hike in Washington, D.C. Subway System; Public Sacrifices, Overpaid Union Doesn’t
The mismanaged Washington, D.C. Metro system is pushing through huge fare hikes, not only increasing subway and bus fares, but adding a new 20…
Blog
Myths About Green Energy: The Truth Is, It’s Corporate Welfare That Destroys American Jobs
In The Washington Post, Robert Bryce debunks five myths about green energy: it won’t create jobs, won’t help the environment, and won’t make America…
Citation
Senate Considers Union Pension Bailout
Blog
Concessions Can Bridge Budget Gaps
In 1958, Chicago opened the 7.8-mile Chicago Skyway, an elevated tollway linking the downtown Chicago Loop with the Indiana Toll Road. Due to poor…
Newsletter
ClimateGate, Immigration and Discrimination Law
CEI files a lawsuit to force NASA to turn over documents relating to ClimateGate. The Department of Justice may sue over Arizona’s immigration law. The…
The Washington Times
Look for the Union Fable
Flanked by representatives from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, YRC Transportation and ABF Freight Systems, Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat, proposed a massive bailout…
Blog
California: Leading the Way in Failure
As one might expect of California, successful transportation public-private partnerships (P3s) face many government hurdles. In the early 1990s, the California Department of Transportation…
Blog
Get Spit On, Take Three Months Off
Last year, angry New Yorkers spit on bus drivers 51 times. The average driver took 64 days of paid leave to recover.
Opposing Views
NYC Bus Drivers Take 3 Paid Months Off After Passengers Spit on Them
New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude. But they are also a sensitive lot. Especially bus drivers. Last year, angry customers literally spit on…
Blog
Stimulus Package Increases Trade Deficit: Replaces U.S. Jobs with Foreign “Green Jobs”
The $800 billion stimulus package is shipping American jobs overseas. More than 79 percent of “green jobs” funding under the stimulus package went to…
Blog
The Increasing Role of Road Concessions
Increasing private sector involvement in transportation should be seen as a positive development. However, there are right ways to involve private firms, and…
Blog
Senate Passes Financial “Reform” Bill, 59-39; Will Wipe Out Jobs and Increase Credit Card Costs
The Senate has just passed a 1,500 page financial “reform” bill that deliberately leaves unreformed the corrupt mortgage giants that spawned the financial crisis–while…
Opposing Views
Mexican Hypocrisy? U.S. Neighbor Has Its Own Tough Take on Immigration
Newsletter
Immigration Reform, SCOTUS and “Market Fundamentalism”
The New York Times reports that younger people are more likely to favor liberalized immigration policy than the baby boomer generation. The Supreme Court’s decision…
Blog
Preempting State Pension Bailouts
Congress has long used its control of the federal government’s purse strings as a club with which to force states to change laws that fall…
Opposing Views
Immigration Reform Should Focus on Security
The recent arrest of Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square bombing suspect, has reopened the debate on immigration and national security. Shahzad is an immigrant…
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