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
Op-Eds
Big Labor’s Agenda for the 110th Congress, Part II: Card, Check, Trade Policy, and the NLRB
Last month, Labor Watch looked at the proposal to raise the federal minimum wage—a key item in the Democrats’ agenda for Congress. In this…
Op-Eds
The Immorality of the Minimum Wage
The Democratic juggernaut has slowed. The House has approved a minimum wage increase as part of the “100 hours” agenda. But a filibuster has blocked…
Study
This Liberal Congress Went to Market: a Bipartisan Policy Agenda for the 110th Congress
DO…
Op-Eds
Big Labor’s Agenda for the 110th Congress, Part I: The Minimum Wage
This month the first session of the 110th Congress begins with Democrats in control of both chambers for the first time since 1994. Control…
News Release
Assessing the Agenda for Congress’ First 100 Hours
Contact: Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Assessing…
News Release
Who is Ripping Off U.S. Consumers?
Washington, D.C., July 11, 2006— When big business gets its way in Washington, the result is higher taxes, stricter regulation, and bigger government all…
Op-Eds
UNITE-HERE on the Attack: Pioneer of Corporate Campaigns Pushes Harder Than Ever
Full document available in PDF America’s national hotel chains are bracing for union trouble. The UNITE-HERE labor union thinks it has found…
Op-Eds
Ignoring Limits on Harassment Liability
Back in 1999, in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, the Supreme Court laid down a test for when sexual harassment rises to…
Op-Eds
A License To Complain
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that a worker alleging retaliation for complaining about discrimination may sue even if she has not suffered a…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LEGAL Homeowners who challenged the authority of the government to seize their property for economic…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. BUSINESS General Motors goes forward with plans to fire salaried workers at 30 U.S. locations, cutting…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. SAFETY Congress considers legislation to standardize food labeling and safety warnings. CEI Expert…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LABOR The New York City Transport Workers Union’s executive board votes to approve a new…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. LABOR The New York City Transport Workers Union ends its three day strike. CEI…
Op-Eds
Point, Counterpoint: Wal-Mart on DVD
Documentary film has long been mired in debates about objectivity. Once strived for amongst serious documentarians, the notion of an objective documentary slowly degraded as…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. GLOBAL WARMING Attendees to the U.N. climate conference in Montreal are unlikely to set…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. RETAIL In preparation for day-after-Thanksgiving shopping crowds, Wal-Mart promises to match any competitor’s advertised price on…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Sony is forced to withdraw dozens of CD titles from sale after its copyright…
News Release
Wal-Mart Critics Reading from an Old Script
Contact: Richard Morrison , 202.331.2273 Washington , D.C. , November 18, 2005—The success of retail giant Wal-Mart has generated criticism of its…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TELECOMMUNICATIONS SBC and Verizon receive FCC approval for their multi-billion dollar merger. CEI Expert Available to…
Ideas in Action
LordD have MerCIe Vpon Vs
In some places in London, you can find scratched on old walls the imprecation, LorD haVe MerCIe Vpon Vs. The curious arrangement of the capital…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. AUTOMOBILITY Anti-car activists sponsor the 2005 observance of “World Car-Free Day.” CEI Expert…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. AUTOMOBILITY The Wall Street Journal editorializes on why tightening federal fuel economy standards would “trade blood…
News Release
Labor Regulations Suspended to Aid Hurricane Recovery
Washington, D.C., September 12, 2005—Last week President Bush, in order to speed the hurricane recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, suspended labor regulations…
Op-Eds
The New Face of Organized Labor
Any student of socialism will recognize that organized labor and leftist politics have marched hand in hand since their inception. Early labor union organizers saw their…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY The Bush administration moves to avert gas shortages in the wake of Hurricane…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. ENERGY A power plant in Alexandria, Virginia, which serves customers in the District of Columbia and Maryland, may…
Op-Eds
Twenty-first Century Unionism?
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />WASHINGTON — The AFL-CIO's loss of two large unions this week hit Democrats and the labor federation…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. TRADE Washington Post columnist Sebastian Mallaby makes the case for passage of the Central American Free…
Newsletter
The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update
Issues in the News 1. CIVIL LIBERTIES The House and Senate Judiciary Committees debate whether or not to reauthorize…
Op-Eds
SEIU Using Intimidation To Expand Membership Rolls
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /> Union membership has declined steadily for decades, but don't think…
Op-Eds
Air Sickness: Who’s to Blame? (Part 2)
Full study available in pdf format If management-labor relations at large airlines are preventing fair competition with newer airlines, to what extent…
Op-Eds
Air Sickness: Who’s to Blame? (Part 1)
Full document available in pdf format Business travelers, family visitors, tourists—all are affected by the airline industry’s woes. But who knows what…
Op-Eds
Bureaucrats upending NIH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) faces a revolt by its employees over new, draconian conflict-of-interest rules. They ban all consulting (paid or unpaid) for…
Op-Eds
New Agenda Fails to Address Problems
George Bernard Shaw once observed that: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the…
Ideas in Action
Dollar Billed
Study
Environmental Education in Wisconsin: What the Textbooks Teach
Full Document Available in PDF Introduction Our schools…