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
The Daily Signal
How Many Biden Appointees ‘Burrowed in’ to the Permanent Bureaucracy?
The Daily Signal cited CEI’s expert on political career placements Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, also highlighted the threat of…

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)…
Search Posts
One News Now
Unions taking work away
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 21, 2011: The Male-Female Pay Gap
Carrie Lukas, Managing Director of the Independent Women's Forum, argues that the pay gap between men and women isn't due to discrimination.
Blog
Education Department Financial Aid Rules Backfire, Harming Students
The Education Department tried to restrict the use of financial aid by for-profit colleges by barring them from getting more than 90 percent of their…
One News Now
Unions to Boeing: We’ll Tell You Where to Build Your Plants
One News Now
Your Taxes Paying Government Union Members Not to Work
One News Now
Study suggests H-1B fixes
Blog
There is No More Fat to Trim from Government Budgets
Workforce Central Florida, a government agency, is spending $73,000 to give away 6,000 capes and some cardboard cutouts.
Blog
A Market Failure in Air Traffic Control?
Air traffic control is simply too important an issue to leave to the free market. It is time to put the government in charge of…
Blog
Local Union to City: Hands Off Our Trash!
Labor unions of late have been fighting an uphill battle in public perception, attempting to justify the significance of unions for the middle class and…
Study
Panel Transcript: Welfare Use by Immigrant Households with Children
MARK KRIKORIAN: Good morning. My name is Mark Krikorian. I’m executive director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank here in town that…
Blog
Political Correctness Roundup: School Officials Attack Easter, Thanksgiving, and “White Privilege”
A Minnesota school district is "laying off 94 teachers” even while spending thousands of dollars to send "a delegation" of teachers to an annual “White Privilege Conference”…
Blog
Senator Jim Webb Flunks Legislation 101: Says Congress Can’t Change the Law
Congress can always change the law if it chooses. For example, it passed the 1991 Civil Rights Act, which overturned many Supreme Court decisions interpreting…
Blog
Dulles Rail Union Giveaway to Increase Costs
An expensive rail line for passengers traveling in and out of the Washington, D.C. region's Dulles International Airport never struck me as a good use…
One News Now
What’s the holdup?
Blog
Education Department Undermines Due Process and Accuracy in Campus Sexual Harassment Cases
On April 4, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent the nation’s school officials a letter urging them to water down…
Blog
“We Are One” Unless You’re New
Openmarket.org Alert to non-unionized workers out there, be wary of joining a union during contract negotiations. Recent news has shown a plethora of contract negotiations…
Blog
“We Are One” Unless You’re New
Alert to non-unionized workers out there, be wary of joining a union during contract negotiations. Recent news has shown a plethora of contract negotiations where…
Blog
STB Should Ignore Calls to Re-regulate Railroads
Yesterday, I filed a comment letter with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on behalf of CEI regarding the board's request for comments prior to…
Blog
TSA Gropes 6-Year-Old Girl
Sometimes people wonder why I favor abolishing the TSA outright. Here's one reason.
Blog
Education Department Changes Burden of Proof in Sexual Harassment Cases Under Title IX
The Education Department is trying to change the burden of proof that many colleges and universities use in disciplinary proceedings over sexual harassment, despite court…
Blog
U.S. Swipes at Colombia’s Sovereignty with Onerous Labor Requirements
AEI’s Claude Barfield posted an insightful comment on the new labor requirements the U.S. foisted on Colombia in connection with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade…
One News Now
Why Can’t Obama and Congress See That Our Poor Immigration Policies Punish American Companies Who Want to Hire Skilled Immigrants?
On April 1, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) began accepting petitions for H-1B visas for 2012. H-1Bs are temporary employer-sponsored work visas for highly…
One News Now
A Tale of Two Bridges
What do you do if you lose 25 percent of your population in a decade, bringing your city to a 100-year low, and…
One News Now
A Slightly Different Take on Prosser-Kloppenburg
One News Now
Obama Administration Covers Up Union Welfare Program
The Obama administration is more than a year late in releasing an important report on federal government union costs. Clauses within collective bargaining agreements require…
One News Now
Wisconsin Supreme Court: A Referendum that Wasn’t
Big labor attempted to turn yesterday’s election for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court into a referendum on Governor Scott Walker’s budget policies, but,…
One News Now
Solis’ Pro-Union Bias
Speaking to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., Labor Secretary Hilda Solis admitted she was biased toward unions. Unions only account…
One News Now
Collective Bargaining – a “Privilege”
One News Now
Wisconsin Supreme Court: A Referendum that Wasn’t
Blog
Unions Use Civil Rights for Own Ends
Openmarket.org Yesterday, AFL-CIO held nationwide events to promote the solidarity between the union protests over collective bargaining and the rights Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,…
Blog
Paul Ryan’s Budget Proposal is Half the Answer
This morning, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) unveiled a bold proposal to trim trillions off America’s bloated budget. It represents the only serious proposal out there…
Blog
Unions Use Civil Rights for Own Ends
Yesterday, AFL-CIO held nationwide events to promote the solidarity between the union protests over collective bargaining and the rights Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and…
Blog
Entrepreneurship Dips: The New York Times Admits Small Business is Important
Yesterday's NYT cautions that "jobs are scarce" in small business as American entrepreneurship declines: Here's the explanation the NYT includes from the pessimistic chart's…
Blog
CEI Podcast for April 5, 2011: Reforming the Railway Labor Act
Russ Brown, a vice president at the Labor Relations Institute and a CEI Adjunct Analyst, talks about recent changes made to the Railway Labor Act…
Blog
Union Officials Exploit Tragedy to Increase Membership and Dues
Openmarket.com Union officials have a long history of propagating tragedy to enforce their pro-union agenda. Big Labor is able to accomplish this effect as efficiently…
Blog
Union Officials Exploit Tragedy to Increase Membership and Dues
Union officials have a long history of propagating tragedy to enforce their pro-union agenda. Big Labor is able to accomplish this effect as efficiently and…
One News Now
Wal-Mart v. Dukes [Lawyers] Ask Courts To Fix The World
Blog
House Rejects Obama-Backed, Pro-Union Amendment to FAA Reauthorization Bill
This afternoon, the House passed the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011. Perhaps the most contentious issue debated was a provision of the legislation that…
One News Now
Translation Services Not Required: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Does Not Require Special Accommodations for Limited English Proficiency Individuals
News Release
Victory for Worker Freedom
Contact: Lee Doren, 202-331-2259 Nicole Ciandella, 202-331-2773 UPDATE: CEI House of Representatives Labor Scorecard Washington, D.C., April 1, 2011 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Meritless, Massive Class Action Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart Should Be Dismissed
As a lawyer who used to bring class-action discrimination lawsuits for a living, I am puzzled by press sympathy for the massive, meritless class-action lawsuit…
One News Now
Costly Union Worker Special Favor Barely Survives With Help of Two Michigan Republicans
News Release
CEI Vote Score Alert: Official Time Amendment to FAA Reauthorization Act
What: Gingrey Amendment # 29 to the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 H.R. 658 CEI Position: Yes The Competitive Enterprise Institute announced today…
The American Spectator
Unionization Through Regulation
Changing election rules to favor one side is something we usually associate with dictatorships. Yet a U.S. federal agency did just that recently, as…
News Release
CEI Vote Score Alert: FAA Amendment on Union Election Rule Change
What: LaTourette – Costello Amendment # 3 to the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 H.R. 658 CEI Position: No Washington, D.C., March 30,…
Blog
Virginia Sells Naming Rights to Highway Rest Stops
Faced with budget shortfalls and a steep $20 million annual operating cost, this week Virginia decided to sell naming rights to its 42 highway…
The American Spectator
US Supreme Court Hears Massive Wal Mart Discrimination Case
The American Spectator
The Class Action Lawsuit Against Wal-Mart is as Meritless as it is Massive
As a lawyer who used to bring class-action discrimination lawsuits for a living, I am puzzled by press sympathy for the massive, meritless class-action lawsuit…
Blog
Maine Gov. LePage Looks to Reform for Balanced Budget
Governor Paul LePage and Maine have skirted the public attention present in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan that have proposed budget reform bills. Maine has proposed…
The American Spectator
Is Obama Pro-Immigration?
A persistent myth about President Obama is that he is pro-immigration. Obama’s rhetoric may be pro-immigration, but his actions reveal that he is the most…