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

Blog
How to end the ‘free rider’ problem with union representation
Congressman Rick Allen (R-GA) has re-introduced the Employee Rights Act, legislation that would codify several individual workers’…

Blog
California’s fast-food minimum wage is super-sizing job losses
Minimum wage increases would be a fine idea if they worked the way that their fans assumed that they did: increasing the take-home pay of…

National Review
Josh Hawley, friend of a friend of the working man
His mistake is thinking that the way to win over working-class voters is by supporting policies favored by union leaders. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is the…
Search Posts
Washington Free Beacon
Report: Reducing Regulatory Agencies’ Authority Could Boost Economy, Increase Job Creation
The Washington Free Beacon covers CEI’s latest publication Shrinking Government Bureaucracy. Reducing some of government’s regulatory agencies’ authority could boost economic growth and…
InsideSources
REPORT: Why the Federal Labor Board Should Be Dismantled
InsideSources covers Trey Kovacs’ suggested reforms for the National Labor Relations Board as part of CEI’s most recent publication Shrinking Governmnet Bureaucracy. The…
OneNewsNow
Min. Wage Study Suggests a Robot Works for Free
OneNewsNow discusses a new report by the National Labor Relations Board with Trey Kovacs. A new study has concluded what many people have…
Study
Rethinking the National Labor Relations Board
View Full Document as PDF The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that oversees private sector labor relations in the…
Blog
NLRB Fails to Explain Departure from Joint Employer Precedent
Today, for the second time this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision that…
News Release
Court Ruling in NLRB Joint Employer Case Against CNN Points to Urgent Need for Reform
Today the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals gave a partial win to news network CNN in a labor dispute with the National Labor Relations Board…
News Release
Improving Job Numbers Emerge but Damaging Regulations Remain a Problem
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent, the lowest since March 2001, according to the U.S.
Blog
Can You Make a Living without a Government License?
There is an expanding strange-bedfellows coalition that would like to see fewer professions for which people need a government-issued license.
Blog
$15 Minimum Wage Could Cost 47,000 Jobs in a Single U.S. County
The Washington Post has “sobering news for $15 minimum-wage boosters.”…
Washington Examiner
Senate Confirms Marvin Kaplan for NLRB
Washington Examiner covers Marvin Kaplan’s confirmation to the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate on Wednesday approved President Trump’s pick of Marvin Kaplan…
The Washington Free Beacon
Senate Confirms Second GOP Board Member to NLRB
The Washington Free Beacon covers Marvin Kaplan’s confirmation to the National Labor Relations Board. Republicans are no longer the minority at the National…
News Release
Urgent Labor Reforms Depend on Senate Confirming Trump Labor Nominees
Update: The Senate voted on August 2, 2017 to confirm Marvin Kaplan to the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate is expected to vote today…
The Daily Signal
One Union’s Desperate Effort to Unionize Automakers in the South
A union organizing campaign at one workplace does not normally generate national headlines, but the 10-year-plus effort by the United Auto Workers to unionize the…
InsideSources
House Introduces Bill to End Joint-Employment Uncertainty
InsideSources discusses joint employer with Trey Kovacs. House lawmakers are looking to add clarity to a patchwork of legal interpretations Thursday by introducing…
Blog
Senate Committee Advances Union Subsidy Transparency Bill
The Senate took a great step forward today to bringing transparency to the wasteful practice of official time. Now it is time to finish the…
Blog
Congress Introduces Cure to Job-Killing ‘Joint Employer’ Standard
It is of the utmost importance to repeal regulations, like the joint employer rule, that stifle small businesses.
The Daily Caller
Dems Push For $15 Minimum Wage While Paying Their Own Staff WAY Less
The Daily Caller discusses the Democrats’ proposed $15 minimum wage hike with Hans Bader. The Democratic Party is pushing for a federal $15…
News Release
CEI Praises House Plan to Roll Back NLRB Joint Employer Rule
Today, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL) will introduce a bipartisan bill to roll back the National Labor Relations Board’s controversial joint employer ruling from 2015. The ruling…
Blog
Democrats Peddle Job-Killing Proposal in ‘Better Deal’ Blueprint
A $15 national minimum wage would eliminate more than 7 million jobs, according to a 2016 study.
Blog
Restore Economic Opportunity by Repealing Occupational Licensing Rules
To increase growth, we need to get rid of some of the unnecessary barriers to economic opportunity that have arisen in recent years – such…
Blog
Bills Allow States to Protect Workers from Identity Theft and Stalking
Protecting workers from identity theft and stalking should be a bipartisan issue. While Republicans and Democrats can hardly agree on whether the sky is blue,…
Citation
CEI Responds to Secretary of Labor Acosta’s Comments on Job Creation
Ahead of President Trump’s “Made in America” roundtable event, Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta offered comments on job creation. Competitive Enterprise Institute Policy Analyst…
Blog
Union Seeks to Protect Jobs of the Past Rather than Train Members for Jobs of the Future
The better way to defray the negative impact on workers from automation is through better education, skills development, and removing restrictions on work and entrepreneurs.
InsideSources
Amazon Faces Union Pressure in Whole Foods Merger
InsideSources discusses union pressure in the Whole Foods-Amazon deal with Trey Kovacs. A major union with members in the retail food industry released a…
Blog
Don’t ‘Liberate’ Interns from Valuable Career Experience
In a diverse labor market in which college students can choose between many different combinations of work, recreation, study over the course of a summer,…
Blog
Gosar Amendment on Labor Costs a Test for Republicans as Party of Fiscal Responsibility
For far too long, the federal government has squandered countless tax dollars by inflating the cost of public works projects.
Blog
Time to End Democrat Majority at the National Labor Relations Board
Filling the vacant seats on the NLRB is imperative to returning the agency to a body of impartial members that represents the public interest in…
News Release
CEI Leads Coalition Urging Swift Senate Vote on Trump NLRB Nominees
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today sent a coalition letter to the Senate urging swift confirmation of President Trump’s two nominees to fill vacancies on…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Urging Senate to Confirm Marvin Kaplan and William J. Emanuel to the National Labor Relations Board
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senator: The undersigned organizations urge the Senate to confirm Marvin Kaplan and William J. Emanuel to…
Blog
Joint Employer Standard an Obstacle to Job Creation and Entrepreneurship
Congress is working on legislation to address and clarify joint employment in a way that enables entrepreneurs to start businesses without regulatory roadblocks. …
Reuters
Conservative Group Backs Supreme Court Challenge to Forced Union Dues
Reuters covers CEI’s amicus brief filing in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 regarding forced union dues. A business-backed think tank has urged the U.S.
Bloomberg BNA
FedEx Freight Drivers in NC Decertify Teamsters
Bloomberg BNA discusses the decertification of Teamsters by FedEx Freight in North Carolina with Trey Kovacs. FedEx Freight drivers in Charlotte, N.C., voted…
Inside Sources
A Whirlwind Week for the Fight for $15
Inside Sources discusses Seattle’s $15 minimum wage study with Hans Bader. The Fight for $15 movement went into the July Fourth weekend facing…
Washington Examiner
NLRB Policy Could Stifle Expansion of Apprenticeships and Worker Training Opportunities
As extremely partisan as Congress has become nowadays, there are glimmers of hope for agreement on reforms to help boost jobs and economic opportunity. Republicans,…
Blog
Conservatives Oppose Forced Unionism, not Unions
The July/August edition of The Atlantic features an article by Jonathan Rauch, “The Conservative Case for Unions,” in which he cites Barry Goldwater and…
The Columbus Dispatch
Act Makes Union Bosses Listen to Workers
President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka recently delivered a heap of advice on “compromise” in a commencement speech to Penn State Fayette Graduates. His college…
Washington Free Beacon
Sudden Death for Obama OT Rules
The Washington Free Beacon covers the Trump administration’s decision not to defend President Obama’s proposed overtime regulations. The Trump administration will not defend…
News Release
CEI Praises Trump Decision on Labor Overtime Rule
The decision not to defend the controversial Obama-era mandate is a much-needed step toward repealing the misguided regulation.
Roll Call
Trump Nominees for Labor Board Could Nix Obama-era Rules
Roll Call discusses President Trump’s NLRB nominations with Trey Kovacs. President Donald Trump’s nomination of two attorneys to serve on the National Labor…
Blog
New Bill Requires VA Employees to Serve Veterans Instead of Union
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has introduced legislation to ensure federal employees working at the Department of Veterans Affairs serve veterans instead of performing union business.
Blog
Seattle Minimum Wage Hike Shrinks Workers’ Incomes
A credible new study on Seattle’s $15 minimum wage has bad news for liberals, notes Max Ehrenfreud at The Washington Post’s Wonkblog. The City…
Blog
Can Federal-Employee Unions Continue Automatic Dues Deductions from Retirees?
Siphoning off dues, at the taxpayers’ expense, from federal employee retirees’ benefits is absurd.
Washington Free Beacon
Trump Set to Give Employers a Leg Up at NLRB
The Washington Free Beacon covers President Trump’s NLRB nomination and a statement by Trey Kovacs. The Trump administration may give Republicans a majority at…
News Release
CEI Comments on Amazon’s Plan to Buy Whole Foods
Amazon’s recent announcement of its plan to buy the grocery chain Whole Foods has set off a series of questions and speculation. CEI experts on…
Blog
Five Big Reforms for Trump Labor Nominees
It is imperative for the Senate to confirm President Trump’s nominees so they can bring fairness and predictability to agency decisions. …
Blog
A Birthday Wish List for the President
Here are four gifts Congress should give the president before its annual July 4th recess.
Reason
Trump Can Gut Obama-Era Labor Regs Because They Were Never Meant to Last
Reason covers the Secretary of Labor Acosta’s decision to eliminate independent contractor rules. Eliminating a set of Obama administration rules for independent contractors…
Washington Examiner
Trump Is Dismantling Obama’s Workplace Law Legacy
Washington Examiner discusses President Trump’s rollback of labor regulations with Trey Kovacs. The White House is systematically dismantling former President Barack Obama’s legacy…
Inside Sources
Trump’s DOL Rescinds Obama-Era Franchise Rule
Inside Sources discusses the rollback of the joint employer rule with Trey Kovacs. The Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew Wednesday from an Obama-era…
Washington Free Beacon
Labor Department Rolls Back Obama Franchise Rules
The Washington Free Beacon discusses the rollback of the joint employer rule with Trey Kovacs. The Department of Labor will roll back an Obama-era…