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
The harm is the process: Unconstitutional NLRB proceedings halted
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals threw a wrench into the gears of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week, and for good reason.
News Release
Federal appeals court rules on NLRB unconstitutionality
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a ruling suggesting the structure of the federal government’s top labor dispute regulator, the National Labor Relations…
Blog
Virginia regulations guarantee secret ballots for public sector union elections
New regulations from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry on “Local Government Union Requirements and Employee Protections” became effective July 30, 2025. An…
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Blog
Big Health and Energy Tax Increases for the Middle Class from Obama and Liberal Congressmen
Even the trimmed-down version of Obama's health-care plan recently announced by a ranking Senator contains lots of tax increases for the middle class.
Citation
Labor Bosses Still Expecting Bailout
Blog
Solis Tells AFL-CIO: “I am proud and humbled to be your humble servant…”
The AFL-CIO, at its recent convention in Pittsburgh, had much to celebrate, including the fact that a Labor Secretary showed up to pay tribute to…
Blog
Obama scolds Wall Street, but targets Main Street with regs
One year after the Wall Street meltdown, President Obama…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 50: Tires from China
The burden is on tariff supporters to explain why they think people who live in one country are more deserving of economic opportunity than people…
Blog
Obama Administration Undermines Airline Security and Railroad Safety: 9/11 Lessons Ignored
In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress foolishly shifted airline security screening to the inept Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has failed to detect explosive ingredients…
Op-Eds
9/11 Ignored-Obama Undermines Airline and Train Security
In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress foolishly shifted airline security screening to the inept Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has failed to detect explosive…
Blog
To Heckle the President, or Not?
Politicians make themselves look bad far more effectively than any heckler could. They don’t need the help.
Newsletter
Obama’s Health Care Speech, Minority Underemployment and Investing in Global Warming
President Obama’s national health care address receives mixed reviews. DC Progress hosts a panel discussion on the problem of “underemployment” among locals in Washington, D.C.
Blog
Project Labor Agreements’ Dire Effects on Minority Contractors
Today, DC Progress, a public policy organization that focuses on the District of Columbia, hosted a panel on the issue of underemployment. DC Progress…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 48: Barbers in Nevada
Want to be a barber in Nevada? You’ll need to get a license first. One of the requirements is a chest X-ray, of all things.
Op-Eds
Obama’s Own Economic Advisor Criticizes Budget Plans
Martin Feldstein, an economic advisor to Obama, criticized “ObamaCare’s Crippling Deficits” in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, noting that “the higher taxes, debt payments and…
Op-Eds
Stimulus Package Forces States to Raise Taxes
The federal government’s $800 billion stimulus package, which failed to cut unemployment, is now forcing states and local governments to raise taxes. The Wall…
Blog
Happy Labor Day!
In a new poll, Gallup finds public support for organized labor at its lowest level since it began taking the survey. Gallup finds organized…
Newsletter
Labor Lobbying, India’s Greenhouse Gases and Honduras’ Financial Struggle
Labor unions gear up to lobby for the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act,” which could impose binding federal arbitration in union disputes. India’s emissions of…
American Spectator
Big Labor’s Benefits
Are unions giving Democrats a free pass on card check? At first look, it appears that way.
Club For Growth
Checked Baggage Regulations
Blog
Ted Kennedy’s Deregulatory Legacy on Airlines and Trucking
Tributes are pouring in for Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, who lost his battle with brain cancer late Tuesday evening at the age of 77.
Blog
Regulation of the Day 40: Flying a Plane
Want to fly a plane? The FAA just published 72 pages worth of changes to its already extensive certification rules. 173 changes in all.
Newsletter
Healthcare Complexity, Union Politics and Insurance Markets
Critics question the unwieldy complexity of current healthcare legislation. A compromise version of the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” gains momentum in Congress. Florida Rep.
Blog
Elaine Chao: Union transparency “more important than Beck;” EFCA “terrible”
Today, at the Heritage Foundation blogger briefing, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao described the union transparency requirements introduced during the Bush administration as “more important…
Club For Growth
Don’t Ban but Expand Them
In proposing his new financial regulations this summer, President Obama pledged to get tough on the big Wall Street banks whose risky practices are…
Blog
Cash for Clunkers Sputters to an End
The Transportation Department announced today that it will wind down the Cash for Clunkers program, which the Obama administration promoted as a way to both…
Blog
Former ACORN Las Vegas Director to Testify against Organization
The former director of the Las Vegas chapter of the far-left advocacy group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has agreed to…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 34: Diabetic Truckers
It is a violation of federal regulations to “operate a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce” if you have insulin-treated diabetes.
Blog
OSHA Nominee Is Anti-Gun Ideologue and Junk Science Peddler
Obama has nominated David Michaels, an anti-gun activist, to head the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a powerful agency that regulates real…
Comment
Letter to Securities and Exchange Commission: Reforming Shareholder Director Nominations
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to submit comments on the proposed rule governing shareholder nominations of corporate directors on behalf of the…
Blog
Don’t Forget Cap and Trade!
Even though 4 Democratic Senators are so nervous about the electricity tax called cap-and-trade they are urging their leadership to drop it from the…
Newsletter
TARP Transparency, Stimulating Recession and Union Arrogance
Congress cites a lack of financial transparency in a report sharply critical of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout. The economies of Germany and…
Club For Growth
Forced Unionization: Card Check, Mandatory Arbitration, & Right to Work Panel
Americans for Prosperity Right Online Conference …
Blog
Democratic Senator Blasts Union Boss
It’s not every day that a Democratic Senator blasts a labor union, which is why the recent mini-controversy surrounding the nomination of United Transportation Union…
Club For Growth
Lesson From France-Recession Ends Without US-Style Stimulus
Club For Growth
Lesson From France-Recession Ends Without US-Style Stimulus
The recession has ended in France, which avoided adopting a massive stimulus package like Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package. France’s conservative President…
Blog
UBS-IRS deal — U.S. Constitutional liberties, privacy rights at risk after Obama bullies the Swiss
Lawyers for the U.S. government and the Swiss bank UBS AG have announced that they have reached a deal…
Blog
Smart Is As Smart Does
This picture accompanying this post is doing the rounds on the internet. The commentary normally reads: Below is a…
Blog
Policy Peril Segment 7: Fuel economy standards
Today’s excerpt from CEI’s film, Policy Peril: Why Global Warming Policies Are More Dangerous Than Global Warming Itself, is on two global warming policies Congress…
Club For Growth
Perverts Get Stimulus Money, Not Roads and Bridges
“Join your fellow pervs for some explicit, twisted fun,” urged a recipient of more than $250,000 from Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package, which received…
Blog
Hate Crime in St. Louis? Obama Backers Beat Up Black Critic of Health-Care “Reform,” Use Racial Slurs
Kenneth Gladney, a black critic of Obama’s health-care plan, was beaten, kicked, and called racist names by members of the SEIU, a…
Blog
Deficit Rises $880 Billion to Record $1.3 Trillion, Due to Massive, Unprecedented Government Spending
The federal budget deficit has already risen by $880 billion to an unprecedented $1.3 trillion. Most of the increase is attributable to recent…
Blog
Regulation of the Day 26: Fortune Telling in Maryland
You need a license to tell fortunes in Annapolis, Maryland.
Blog
Union Bosses Say the Darndest Things
As described in an OpenMarket post by CEI’s Ivan Osorio a couple weeks ago, the Teamsters union and UPS are currently lobbying Congress to…
Blog
The Right to a Green Job?
Demand for wind turbine blades in Europe has slipped, apparently, so a British company that makes them, Vestas, has plans to let go 625 workers…
Blog
Billions More for Wasteful Auto Bailouts
The auto bailouts keep expanding. Billions more are going to be spent on wealthy auto-dealers, cash-for-clunkers, politically-correct cars few people will buy, and excessive benefits…
Newsletter
Heat Waves, UAW Arrogance and the Costs of Obesity
Locations across the nation see record-cold summer temperatures, confounding global warming predictions. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) chastises United Auto Workers chief Ron Gettelfinger for refusing…
Blog
The Wall Street Journal on the Union Pension Debacle
Two weekend Wall Street Journal editorials sum up well the ticking time-bomb of underfunded union pension funds. First, the dire state of many union…
Blog
UAW Gives Taxpayers the (Gettel)finger
Considering the enormous amounts of cash that the federal government has hurled at the auto industry since the start of the financial crisis, recipients…
Blog
Exploiting the Minimum Wage
Young people with little or no work experience may not be able to offer $7.25 per hour worth of productivity; small wonder so many of…
Blog
Obama Health-Care Plan Destroys Cheap Health-Care Options, Raises Taxes, Breaks Promises
In 2008, Obama promised not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. But he is now breaking that promise by…
Newsletter
Labor Politics, Government Paternalism and Tobacco Profits
Labor unions push to establish “binding arbitration” in contract negotiations. The nomination of law professor Cass Sunstein to oversee new federal regulations moves forward. Cigarette…
Club For Growth
