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
Citation
VIDEO: Legal Immigrants: Problem or Solution?
Alex Nowrasteh of the Competitive Enterprise Institute discusses immigration and job creation on RT TV’s The Alyona Show.
Knox News
TN Tops in Nation on ‘Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index’
Knox News
Political Notebook: Conservative Group Gives TN High Score for Labor Laws
Blog
AP: Obama’s “Jobs” Plan Will Increase Deficit, Is Not “Paid For”
Associated Press fact checkers took issue with President Obama's claims about his new $450 billion federal "jobs" plan: President Barack Obama’s promise Thursday that everything…
Blog
Davis-Bacon, the Pork of the American Jobs Act Boondoggle
Openmarket.org President Obama made the astute observation in his speech that, “the millions of Americans who are watching at home right now, they don’t care…
Blog
Davis-Bacon, the Pork of the American Jobs Act Boondoggle
President Obama observed in his speech that “the millions of Americans who are watching at home right now, they don’t care about politics.” Obama harkened…
Knox News
Immigration is Not Charity
The biggest misconception about immigration is that it is a zero-sum game–that there is a finite number of jobs which immigrants “take” from the…
Knox News
A Plan Better than Obama’s to Create Jobs
Daily Paul
Competitive Enterprise Institute Web Site Measues Union Power in Each State
The Pelican Post
New Web Site Measures the Power and Influence of “Big Labor” in All 50 States
MNFMI
Minnesota Ranks #4 on List of Most Unionized Public Workforces
Blog
Union vs. Union Fight
A band I was in years ago had a song titled, “Sheet Rockers vs. Aluminum Siders,” about a fight our singer saw at work on…
Blog
Obama’s Costly, Unaffordable, Harmful New Stimulus: The “American Jobs Act”
President Obama wants Congress to pass a $447 billion proposal called the "American Jobs Act," a costly set of recycled stimulus plans that contains no new ideas…
The Tennessean
Competitive Enterprise Institute Gives TN High Score for Weak Unions
The Tennessean
Obama’s Costly, Unaffordable, Harmful New Stimulus: The “American Jobs Act”
National Review
What the President Should Say Tonight
Blog
TSA Agent: Be Quiet About Alleged Sexual Assault, or Pay $500,000
Give some people a badge, and the power goes to their head. A TSA agent has threatened to sue a female traveler who complained…
Blog
Do We Really Need Government-Funded Anti-Piracy Training?
Just introduced by New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R), the Piracy Suppression Act of 2011 aims to improve U.S. policy with respect to ocean pirates…
Blog
Borzi’s Fiduciary Burden on Broker-Dealers
Openmarket.org Who ought to have greater fiduciary duties: a consumer-selected, paid adviser whose advice is optional, or an adviser who you legally must pay and…
Blog
Borzi’s Fiduciary Burden on Broker-Dealers
Who ought to have greater fiduciary duties: a consumer-selected, paid adviser whose advice is optional, or an adviser who you legally must pay and whose…
Blog
Obama Infrastructure Stimulus: Union Payoff Filled with Rail Boondoggles and Pork
Obama's proposed infrastructure stimulus is a payoff to Big Labor, as economist Ronald Utt explains. It "represents tens of billions of dollars in high,…
Weekly Press
Study: PA Favors Unions, Lags in Business Climate
Blog
Dear Labor, Don’t Fear the Robot
In California, a war is quietly being fought: workers versus technology. And the war has materialized in the form of a bill that seeks…
Blog
Obama’s Ironic, Belated, and Unaffordable Infrastructure “Stimulus”
In a Labor Day speech to an AFL-CIO rally in Detroit, President Obama said that "roads and bridges nationwide need rebuilding and more than…
One News Now
Index of States’ Standing On Big Labor
One News Now
Alex Nowrasteh on Alabama’s Immigration Law
CEI Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh discusees the economic harm from tight immigration restrictions such as Alabama House Bill 56.
New York Post
A Bad Year for Big Labor
One News Now
Institute Claims New Labor Board Rule Will Pressure Workers
The Daily Record
New Study Ranks State High in Government Union Clout
Washington Examiner
Maryland Among Nation’s Most Pro-Union States
GOP Alaska
Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index
GOP Alaska
Alabama’s Immigration Law Is a Train Wreck
On Monday, Federal District Judge Sharon Blackburn temporarily enjoined Alabama’s controversial immigration law (HB 56) for one month, to have enough time to address the…
Maryland Reporter
Maryland Is One of 10 Most Pro-Government Union States
Maryland Reporter
Is (Big) Labor Day Every Day?
News Release
Zero August Job Growth Reflects Anti-Business, Red Tape Climate in Washington
Washington, D.C., September 2, 2011 — Today’s job numbers from the US Department of Labor are downright dismal: the economy failed to add new…
The Wonk Salon
Big Labor vs. the Taxpayers – a New Index
Politico
Collegio Emails
Illinois Policy
Illinois Ranks Next to Last
Maine Freedom Forum
Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index – Maine Ranks #30
Majority in Mississippi
Few Public Sector Workers Belong To Union
Pennsylvania Chamber
New Study Shows Pa. Favors Big Labor Over Taxpayers
Blog
Regulation of the Day 196: Babysitting
This bill will result in a lot of unhappy nights at home for frustrated parents – and a lot less income for sitters who have…
Blog
NLRB’s Pro-Big Labor Ruling Trifecta is Bad News for the Economy
Earlier this year, President Obama proudly touted his executive order calling for federal agencies to review regulations on their books and identify obsolete rules for…
Blog
CEI and Crossroads GPS Announce Launch of Big Labor vs. Taxpayers Index
With state governments across the country struggling to balance budgets and fund basic services over the demands of big government unions, the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
Pennsylvania Chamber
Big Labor vs. Taxpayers
For the first time ever, government union members outnumbered those in the private sector in 2009. Until recently,…
Washington Examiner
How to Track Government Union Power Online
Chicago Now
Illinois Ranks Bottom of States With Worst Government Unions Accountability
Public Sector Inc
Ranking Public Union Clout in the States
Common Wealth Foundation
Big Labor’s Stranglehold in Pennsylvania
New York Torch