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
Court Tells NLRB Sometimes a Joke Is In Fact a Joke
In a significant win for common sense, a federal appeals court has found that sometimes a joke is just a joke, even when…
Blog
Let’s Not Allow Davis-Bacon to Further Clog Job Arteries
The Biden administration is proposing to make government contracting even more expensive by revamping the Davis-Bacon Act. This law requires that related workers…
Comment
CEI Letter Opposing the Department of Labor’s Proposed Changes to the Davis-Bacon Act
Via Regulations.Gov Hon. Marty Walsh Secretary of Labor United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC…
Blog
House Staffers Can Now Unionize
The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved, for the first time ever, allowing congressional staff to form unions. This will be an interesting experiment.
The Washington Times
Teachers’ unions scrutinized over Harvard study of COVID-19 learning
The Washington Times cites CEI Research Fellow Sean Higgins on teachers’ unions: Sean Higgins, a research associate at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
News Release
April 2022 Job Gains Demonstrate Government Intervention Not Necessary
Today the federal government reported that the U.S. economy gained 428,000 jobs last month (similar to the number added in March). Those gains demonstrate…
Blog
Unions Are Getting Smarter by Returning to Old-School Organizing Tactics
A new wave of union activism has swept the country in recent months with workers at Starbucks, Amazon, and even Apple pushing to organize.
Wall Street Journal
Amazon Takes On the National Labor Relations Board
Amazon is pushing back against the recent union election at its Staten Island facility in a novel way: by taking on the National Labor…
Blog
NLRB General Counsel Calls for End to Secret Ballots in Workplace Elections
The general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is calling on the agency to unilaterally adopt “card check” rules for all…
The Washington Times
Tech Companies Offer Big Money to Summer Interns for In-Person Work
The Washington Times cites research Fellow Sean Higgins on the future of in-person versus remote internships: “This may lead to internships…
Blog
NLRB General Counsel Targets Mandatory Attendance Meetings
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo is taking aim at “captive audience meetings” held by employers, arguing that it is…
Crowdfund Insider
JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Crowdfund Insider cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on outcome of the JOBS Act 10 years later: CI also spoke…
Blog
Amazon Union Wins in Staten Island with Backing of 32 Percent of Workers
Key to understanding the union organizing win at Amazon’s Staten Island facility is that there were enough workers who wanted a union, or…
News Release
New Job Gains for March 2022 Shows Businesses Open with Jobs to Offer: CEI Analysis
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today that the U.S. economy added over 400,000 jobs in the month of March – good…
Blog
Weil, That Was a Close One!
David Weil, the Biden administration’s pick to be the administrator of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division, was rejected…
Inside Sources
Point: Pay College Athletes
St. Peter’s University’s run of upsets wasn’t the only storyline from this year’s March Madness tournament. The other is that the Memphis Tigers men’s…
Blog
The Best Thing the Department of Labor Can Do for Freelancers is Keep the Trump-era Rule
In a surprising move, a federal court has thrown out the Biden administration’s attempt to throw out the Trump administration’s new rule to…
Blog
Biden Administration Seeks to Redefine Word “Prevailing”
The Biden administration has come up with an innovative way to aid its union allies: redefining the word “prevailing” to mean its opposite.
National Review
Supply Shocks Are Not Inflation
Gas prices are spiking due to Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. President Biden announced a ban on importing Russian oil, which…
Blog
Inflation Numbers Show a Minimum Wage Hike Is Still A Bad Idea
Like a slasher movie villain who refuses to die, the push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour seems to have…
Blog
How Newt Gingrich Laid the Groundwork for Congressional Staff Unionizing
The current effort by congressional staff to unionize builds on a legal groundwork laid decades ago by Republicans. In fact, the idea…
Blog
The New Office Normal
What is the best workplace model for employers to follow as COVID-19 (hopefully) continues to wind down? In an Inside Sources op-ed currently…
The Frederick News Post
No Single Best Way to Work
COVID-19 might be winding down into an endemic disease like the cold and the flu — maybe. But even if the virus has more…
News Release
U.S. Economy Adds 678,000 Jobs in February, but Inflation, Russia, Government Mandates Remain a Problem
The U.S. economy added 678,000 jobs in February, according to newly released government figures. CEI economic and labor policy experts praised the good…
Citation
AUDIO: Sean Higgins Joins the Bob Harden Show
Research Fellow Sean Higgins joins the Bob Harden Show to discuss unions.
Blog
What Do Workers Want?
Pundits and politicians are talking about how to get back to normal as COVID (hopefully) winds down into an endemic disease like the cold…
The Hill
You’re the Boss: Unionized Staff Would Force Democrats to Take on Management’s Role
A group of congressional Democratic staffers are attempting to form a union. It might not be a bad idea. A major problem with Congress…
Blog
The One Area Where Voting Rights Isn’t Sacred: Union Elections.
There is one area of voting rights where many Democrats don’t seem to want every voice to be heard: union elections. Democratic lawmakers have…
Blog
Unions Likely Received $36 Million in Improper PPP Loans
It is possible that labor unions improperly received more than $36 million in “loans” under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The program was…
News Release
U.S. Economy Added 467,000 Jobs in January 2022, Signaling No Need for Govt Meddling
The good news jobs gain in January gives President Biden and Congress ample reason to step back and let businesses and workers chart…
The Washington Times
American Consumers See Drop in Restaurant, Retail Quality from Labor Shortage, Study Finds
The Washington Times cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins on costs of pandemic to restaurant business: Sean Higgins, a research fellow specializing…
The Boston Globe
Workers Organizing at McLean Hospital Face Staunch Resistance
The Boston Globe cites Research Fellow Sean Higgins on union membership: Given that only 6 percent of the private-sector workforce is…
Real Clear Policy
This Biden Nominee Could Restrict Worker Freedom
Real Clear Policy cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on Biden nominee David Weil: The AI broadened the scope of…
Blog
Even Most Democrats Favor Right to Work Laws
For being so controversial, right to work laws are pretty popular. A majority of states, 27, have them and even Democrats will…
Blog
Rising Pay Undermines Push for Increasing the Minimum Wage
A Department Labor report released Friday shows wages rising 4.5 percent, evidence that the Biden administration’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage…
Blog
Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Is Still a Bad Idea Even If Properly Enacted
The best that can be said about the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw the executive order for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate and instead try…
The Tribune-Democrat
There are Better Ways than Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to Boost Workers’ Pay
Twenty-five states raised their minimum wages this year, but the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Is it…
Blog
Better Ways to Fight Poverty than the Minimum Wage
Every January, states and cities across the country raise their minimum wages. There are also calls to raise the federal minimum wage, which has…
Blog
As Numbers Stagnate, Unions Continue to Look to Congress For Salvation
The Department of Labor’s latest statistics confirm that the union movement in the U.S. remains stagnant and slowly declining. Only 10.3 percent of…
City Journal
The Pandemic Job Shuffle
Policymaking involves tradeoffs. As the Covid-19 pandemic started in the U.S. in early 2020, governments chose to impose lockdowns and other restrictions in an…
Blog
Comments on Department of Labor Pension ESG Rule
At the end of last year, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to rewrite rules on pension…
News Release
December’s Disappointing Job Numbers Show Government Should Loosen Restrictions on Economy
On Friday, the Biden Administration released the jobs report for December 2021, showing the U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs. The number was far short…
World News Group
Pandemic Pileup
World News Group cites Senior Fellow Ben Lieberman on the current supply chain crisis: Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow at…
News Release
Consumer Spending Growth Slows: COVID, Inflation, Supply Networks Are Factors: CEI Statement
On news today that inflation rose again in November, CEI Senior Fellow Ryan Young urged policymakers to do their part by spending less: “Consumer…
Blog
Can Pensions Be Saved from Political Mismanagement?
The Department of Labor is currently working on a new rule that would give pension fund managers greater leeway in considering non-financial criteria…
News Release
Disappointing Job Gains for November 2021 Speak to Government Barriers to Economic Recovery
The U.S. economy added 210,000 jobs in November, far short of what economists expected. CEI experts say government mandates and restrictions remain a big…
Blog
The Bizarre Logic of the NLRB’s Decision in the Amazon Union Case
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) order overturning the workers’ rejection of a union at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama, and…
News Release
Thankful for Good Economic News on Jobs, Consumer Spending: More to Do
During Thanksgiving week, jobless claims dipped to 199,000, their lowest level in 52 years, when the country’s population was less than two thirds…
Blog
The Invisible Hand, Not Washington, Is Easing the Supply Chain Crisis
The supply chain crisis is showing signs of receding. This is happening not because of any action by the White House or Congress. The…
The Washington Times
Economic Pressures Boost Thanksgiving Turkey Prices by 20%
The Washington Times cites Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray on Thanksgiving prices: Iain Murray, a senior analyst at the libertarian…
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