New Labor Policy Video: The Life of Julius

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29, 2013 — The Competitive Enterprise Institute unveiled a new video today: “The Life of Julius: How Unions Hurt Workers.” The two-minute animated film can be viewed on YouTube or at CEI’s labor policy website WorkplaceChoice.org.

“The Life of Julius,” like the Obama campaign’s controversial “Life of Julia,” follows the life of a working American. Julius is an African-American man who has suffered under pro-union labor policies.

For example, as a 17 year-old in search of his first job, Julius finds that the labor pool in his hometown is artificially small thanks to minimum wage laws, which have been promoted by labor unions for decades.

Later in life, as a father and home-owner in his 40s, Julius finds that the collective bargaining agreements of public-sector workers have driven his taxes up, leaving his family with less take-home pay for groceries, gas, and vacations.

Finally, at the end of his working life, a 64 year-old Julius is looking forward to retiring on the pension fund he’s contributed to for decades. Unfortunately, the unionized workforce at his company has driven the enterprise into insolvency by increasing labor costs to unsustainable levels. The company is forced to shut its doors, and Julius finds he has an empty nest egg, just when he needs it.

“The Life of Julius” tells the story of how the average person is affected by politically empowered unions and the laws and regulations they support. Watch the video here.

>> To speak with Senior Fellow in Labor Policy Matt Patterson about the video, contact Nicole Ciandella at n[email protected] or 202-331-2773.