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
Court rejects New York bid to take over federal labor enforcement
An effort by the New York legislature to usurp the role of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency,…
Law & Liberty
America’s Hidden Judiciary
Unbeknownst to most Americans, federal regulatory agencies have their own court system for adjudicating disputes that businesses and citizens have with regulators. These agencies rely…
Blog
New York, California make a play for federal labor law enforcement
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the main federal labor law enforcement agency, currently lacks a quorum to act. Ordinarily, that type of federal…
Search Posts
Washington Examiner
Estimated 700 Federal Employees Do Only Union Work
Washington Examiner reports on Trey Kovacs’ study on the practice of official time. The estimate is from a study by the Competitive Enterprise…
Blog
Stop Paying Federal Employees to Perform Union Business
There are an estimated 1,000 federal employees who spend 100 percent of their work hours on labor union business instead of actual government work.
News Release
Report: Taxpayers Spend Millions to Subsidize Government Unions
Congress should end a multi-million dollar taxpayer subsidy to federal government unions, a new Competitive Enterprise Institute report urges. “The practice called ‘official time’…
Study
It Is Time to End Official Time
View Full Document as PDF For years, federal employee unions have enjoyed a government subsidy that enables their members to perform union…
The Hill
Overtime Pay Isn’t A Cure-All: Make Work Flexible Without The Red Tape
Proponents of the Obama-era overtime rule claim that arbitrarily raising the cost of labor at a new, higher salary threshold would help workers achieve a…
Blog
A Time for Choosing: Will Trump Side with Taxpayers or Unions?
If keeping construction unions as an ally comes at the expense of efficient use of tax dollars and competition, the White House must side with…
Blog
Increasing Worker Satisfaction Shouldn’t Be an Unfair Labor Practice
Companies should be permitted to establish a system so they can receive feedback from employees and remedy worker dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, national labor law generally prohibits…
News Release
Court Injunction on Unionization for Rideshare Companies Wins Praise From CEI Labor Expert
Today, a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary injunction against a Seattle law on unionization for rideshare companies. CEI labor policy expert Trey Kovacs praised…
Blog
Time to End Official Time
The Official Time Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 1364) would prohibit federal employees from conducting political activity on union official time. Union official time…
Blog
SEIU Spending Big on Fight for $15
Why has the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) spent at least $19 million last year and $90 million since 2012 financing the Fight for…
Blog
Seattle Forced Union Dues Scheme Faces Legal Challenge
In 2015, the City of Seattle enacted a misguided ordinance that allows Uber and Lyft drivers, who operate as independent contractors, the privilege to collectively…
InsideSources
Striking a Balance Between Small Businesses and Regulations
InsideSources highlights a CEI’s coalition letter to the Senate. President Donald Trump has promised to help businesses struggling with burdensome regulations. He has…
InsideSources
Letter Pushes Restrictions on Taxpayer-Funded Union Work
InsideSources reports on CEI’s coalition letter urging Congress to limit the practice of union official time. The practice of letting federal officials conduct…
Blog
Columnist Misrepresents Civil Service Reforms
In a recent column, The Washington Post’s Joe Davidson presents a gravely distorted view of Republican civil service reform efforts, which seek to save…
Washington Free Beacon
Taxpayers Paid $162.5 Million for Union Work
The Washington Free Beacon discusses the practice of official time with Trey Kovacs. Trey Kovacs, a labor policy expert at the pro-free-market Competitive…
Blog
President Trump Expected to Block Blacklisting Rule
Today, President Trump is expected to approve a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to repeal what is known as the Blacklisting rule. Upon signing,…
Blog
New Report: Federal Employee Union Subsidy Costs $162 million
Last Friday afternoon, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its biennial report, “Official Time Usage in the Federal Government—Fiscal Year 2014.” The survey…
The Hill
Skinny Trump budget has fat omission: NLRB cuts
President Trump has released his “skinny budget” giving a blueprint of where the administration would like to see spending and cutbacks at federal agencies.
InsideSources
Taxpayers Spend Millions Providing Unions With Free Labor
InsideSources discusses the practice of official time with Trey Kovacs. Supporters argue that official time allows federal unions to properly fulfill their legal…
Blog
Mr. Acosta Goes to Washington
Mr. Acosta came off as smart, accomplished, and an individual who will enforce the laws on the books, not pursue a political agenda.
Inside Sources
Labor Secretary Nominee Finally Gets Confirmation Hearing
Inside Sources discusses Labar Secretary Nominee Acosta’s confirmation hearing Acosta noted during his opening statement that his views regarding labor stem from his…
Blog
Court Slaps Down Overreach of Federal Labor Regulators
President Trump needs to fill the vacancies at the National Labor Relations Board in order to restore balance at the agency.
Blog
White House Should Expand Budget Cuts to Additional Agencies
President Trump’s proposed budget blueprint rightly eliminates funding for many agencies, but there are additional candidates for cuts.
Blog
Trump Administration Budget Request Targets Union Slush Fund
The White House budget finds savings in the Department of Labor prominently through eliminating or cutting back ineffective or duplicative training programs.
Blog
Takeaways from Browning-Ferris ‘Joint Employer’ Hearing
The National Labor Relations Board’s Browning-Ferris decision upended 30 years of precedent and creates immense uncertainty. Congress needs to step in and pass legislation that…
Investor's Business Daily
Labor Reform Is Necessary To Sustain Economic Optimism, Growth
Economic optimism is on the rise among small businesses and consumers alike, judging from recent surveys. The monthly Index of Small Business Optimism finds…
InsideSources
States Give Trump Administration Roadmap for Government Union Reform
President Donald Trump has signaled federal workforce reform is a high priority as a means to cut wasteful spending and improve the delivery of public…
Washington Free Beacon
Senate Rescinds Obama’s Blacklist Rule
The Washington Free Beacon discusses the Department of Labor’s blacklisting rule with Trey Kovacs. Labor law experts on both sides of the union…
Blog
Senate Takes Aim at Federal Contractor ‘Blacklisting’ Rule
Senators are considering a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act which would repeal the Department of Labor's "blacklisting" rule.
Blog
Federal Workplace Officials Using Un-‘Reasonable’ Legal Standard on Harassment
The primary winners from defining harassment very broadly are trial lawyers, not minority employees.
Washington Examiner
New DNC chair Tom Perez has record of executive overreach
On Saturday, former Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Many portray Perez as the moderate pick compared to…
Blog
Policy Background on Trump’s Joint-Session Address to Congress
Here are five areas where the administration has the opportunity to implement valuable and much-needed reforms for the American people.
Blog
Veterans Affairs Employees Spent 1.1 Million Hours on Union Activities
Department of Veterans Affairs employees spend over 1 million hours per year performing union activities instead of fulfilling the mission of the agency.
Washington Free Beacon
GOP Outraged After Discovering VA Employees Spent 1.1 Million Hours on Taxpayer-Funded Union Activities
The Washington Free Beacon reports on Trey Kovacs testifying before a House subcommittee on the Department of Veterans Affairs use of official time. …
The Hill
Unlike Puzder, Acosta’s commitment to business growth is unclear
During the Obama administration, Republicans in Congress criticized the Department of Labor for its pro-union activism and economically crippling government mandates that hurt worker opportunity…
News Release
CEI Comments on Trump’s Announcement of Alexander Acosta as Labor Secretary Nominee
Earlier this week, President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrew his nomination. On February 16, 2017, President Trump announced that his new Labor…
Daily Caller
Republicans Blast VA For Putting Unions Ahead Of Veterans Care
The Daily Caller discusses the use of official time at the Department of Veterans Affairs with Trey Kovacs. William Lawrence Kovacs, a labor…
Daily Caller
House GOP Could Deliver Major Blow To Federal Unions
The Daily Caller reports on Trey Kovacs testifying before a House subcommittee on the Department of Veterans Affairs use of official time. “With…
Washington Post
House Republicans launch latest hit on federal unions
The Washington Post reports on a House subcommittee hearing where Trey Kovacs testified on the practice of official time at the Department of Veterans Affairs. …
Citation
VIDEO: Trey Kovacs Discusses Puzder Withdrawing Nomination on Fox Business
[VIDEO::https://youtu.be/AsNXYhWHmH4::aVideoStyle]…
Blog
Congress: Federal Labor Board Must Be Fair to Both Employers and Workers
The National Labor Relations Board has become an overly political agency that, as currently constructed, does more harm than good. It is in dire need of reform.
Fox News
Here’s why Trump’s Labor pick Andy Puzder will help grow the economy and create jobs
Under the Obama administration, the Department of Labor put out numerous regulations and abrupt policy changes that increased the cost of doing business in America…
News Release
CEI Statement on Trump Labor Nominee Andrew Puzder Withdrawing His Nomination
Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy expert Trey Kovacs commented on the decision by President Trump’s Labor Department nominee, Andrew Puzder, to withdraw his nomination:…
InsideSources
Why Union Membership Is Down but Favorability Is Up
InsideSources discusses labor union membership decline and public perceptions of labor unions with Trey Kovacs. “I think people like the perceptions and the…
Washington Examiner
Union membership hits rock bottom
Union memberships keep declining. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report on union membership found the trend has not changed. This time, it’s declined…
Blog
Worker Freedom Extends to Missouri
Today, Missouri became the 28th state to enact right-to-work legislation, which prohibits forced payment of union dues as a condition of employment.
Blog
Pence Shows Interest in Scott Walker-Style Collective Bargaining Reform
Recent conversations between Vice President Pence and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signal interest in collective bargaining reform for federal employees.
Blog
Encouraging Job Report Suggests Deregulation Will Get America Back to Work
New employment numbers suggest that employers are starting to respond to the promise of substantial deregulation by the new administration.
Blog
Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. Employees Set Record Straight on Working for Andy Puzder
This week employees of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. described their experiences working for CKE Restaurants, where Secretary of Labor-designate Andrew Puzder is CEO.
Blog
Congress Puts Dept. of Labor’s Blacklisting Rule in Crosshairs
Congress is taking a first step in rolling back parts of the Obama administration’s costly red-tape put out by the Department of Labor.
