Since the early days of Henry Ford, Michigan was the proud symbol of America's industrial might. But then, starting in the 1970s, things went south – in part because of the might of the unions that ran the state's political machine. That's when Michigan transitioned into the sad symbol of closed factories: the American "Rust Belt…

Throughout his administration, everyone nominated by Joe Biden seems to offer a unique amalgam of functional incompetence and ideological extremism.   Take Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s Transportation Secretary and former Democratic Party wunderkind, who likes to characterize America’s infrastructure as institutionally racist. …

For all the talk of a labor union resurgence in America, the reality is that unions are actually in record decline.   That’s not hyperbole or partisan opinion, that’s according to the federal government itself:   The union membership rate – the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions &ndash…

In recent years, we’ve suffered an intolerable expansion of the federal administrative state, ruled by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats staffing them.   Barack Obama illustrated the mentality behind that expansion in 2014, when he claimed authority to impose his agenda via “pen and phone” in disregard of our pesky…

America’s gig economy represents a rare unalloyed success story from the tumultuous past decade.  It brought a new universe of opportunities for workers, consumers and businesses, and accounted for $1.3 trillion of the U.S. economy even before Covid.   Naturally, that attracts the menacing gaze of the Biden Administration, which…

America needs to go back to work. Elon Musk ordered Tesla employees back to the office full time last week. Tesla will "create and actually manufacture the most exciting and meaningful products of any company on Earth," Musk said. "This will not happen by phoning it in." Bravo to Musk for rebuffing the fairy tale that employees…

In the abstract, labor unions would appear to be enjoying a resurgence in public approval.   In the realm of reality, however, not so much.   Superficially, a recent Gallup survey reveals that Americans’ approval of unions stands at 68%, the highest level since 71% in 1965.  For proper perspective, however, it must…

From Christmas toys to clothing and auto parts, shortages of imported products are forcing factories to idle, store shelves to sit empty and consumers to panic. What else is in short supply? The truth about what's causing this economic crisis. President Joe Biden, who brags about running "the most pro-union administration in history," won…

Nonunion workers make up nearly 90% of the U.S. workforce. President Joe Biden is stabbing them in the back.  The massive $3.5 trillion budget bill Biden and Democratic lawmakers are trying to ram through Congress discriminates against nonunion workers and even forces some of them to pay higher taxes than union workers.  Union membership…

ALEXANDRIA, VA – In a letter sent today, a coalition of more than two dozen prominent free-market organizations and individuals, led by the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF), urged Congress to pass the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3185/S. 1636). The Save Local Business Act, which is sponsored by Representative James Comer (R-KY) in the U…

Should American businesses be held liable for millions of people whom they didn’t hire, don’t directly control and probably don’t even know exist?   Under decades of settled court precedent and administrative law, the answer remains an obvious “no,” which accords with most people’s concept of fairness…

President Biden, in one of his administration’s most potentially perilous assaults yet upon the nation’s small businesses, job market and economy, has nominated Brandeis University dean and professor David Weil to head the Department of Labor’s critically important Wage & Hour Division, the federal agency primarily responsible…

President Joe Biden is traveling to Virginia and Louisiana this week to pitch his American Jobs Plan – also called an "infrastructure" plan. New bridges, safer highways and more broadband are easy sells. But that's only half the story. Biden's plan is a massive and coercive push to unionize the American workforce. Whether…

Why are UFCW bosses enriching themselves at the expense of rank-and-file workers whose interests they claim to represent during a pandemic? ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) today launched TheImperfectUnion.com, a project highlighting the unfair actions of certain big labor unions that continue to extract significant…

Leftists delight in labeling themselves "pro-choice," but experience betrays the perversity of that claim.  Across the broad spectrum of modern life, they’re far more often pro-compulsion, not pro-choice.  Many of them can’t seem to run their own lives well, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to run yours…

It's amazing what happens when people finally enjoy a greater degree of individual freedom.  Also, we now know why union leaders and leftist politicians fought so tenaciously for decades to deny that individual freedom to captive employees.  Specifically, it appears that when unions must actually receive permission before extracting dollars…

How does a public-sector union work? Easy. First, the state creates a monopoly. The monopoly forces taxpayers to fund those workers, whether they do a good job or not. The union then coerces workers to pay dues regardless of whether or not they want to. Then the union uses those dues to help fund political advocacy that perpetuates their monopoly…

Organized labor took off the gloves Monday, warning the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court that freeing public employees from mandatory union dues would lead to strikes and union violence. It was ugly. The Court heard oral arguments challenging laws in 22 states and the District of Columbia that force public employees to pay unions to represent them…

Whatever evanescent controversy happens to induce media hysteria on any particular day in the Trump Era, jobs and economic growth remain the top priorities for Congress, the White House and the American public.  To that end, this week brought a pleasant surprise when second-quarter economic growth registered at a more robust 3%, exceeding expectations…

Most of the mainstream media refers to the former Google engineer's leaked internal memo as the "anti-diversity memo." Recode calls it "sexist." And Google fired James Damore for "perpetuating gender stereotypes." But in reality, the problem isn't diversity; it's that a senior software engineer admitted, perhaps unwittingly…

When it comes to public employee unions, there's no such thing as a coincidence. All you travelers stuck in mile-long TSA security lines are pawns. Convenient political pawns. Big Labor bosses want more power and more money. Stranded travelers are just the latest victims in this age-old game of D.C. extortion. Union leaders want you to think the…

In terms of sheer shamelessness, it's difficult to surpass modern labor unions.  In one prominent recent example, consider the United Steelworkers' attempt to unionize college football players attending Northwestern University, one of the nation's most elite private institutions.  This week, that attempt finally fell incomplete when the…

It's bad enough that federal, state and local governments impose new regulations so rapidly that few employers can even familiarize themselves with them, let alone comply with them.  Compounding that problem, overzealous bureaucrats and prosecutors sometimes target businesses and people via statutes bearing no logical connection to the behavior…

Here’s a new bureaucratic dilemma worthy of “Catch-22.”  Tragically, it captures perfectly the way in which over-regulation and Obama Administration policy impede employment growth.  On one hand, federal law generally prohibits employers from asking employees or job applicants if they are disabled.  This is what an…

“An employer’s use of an individual’s criminal history in making employment decisions may, in some instances, violate the prohibition against employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.”   —Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) memorandum, "Consideration…

Imagine for a moment the uproar if a Republican administration colluded with big businesses to disregard explicit federal layoff warning laws for political benefit.  Four years into an Obama Administration notable for its brazen lawlessness, perhaps such malfeasance should no longer come as a shock.  But that is precisely what is taking…

The airline industry is at a turning point.  With expenses increasing, the industry’s big labor unions are desperate to preserve their old order.  In fact, the situation has become so exacerbated that American Airlines’ unions have taken the extraordinary step of pushing their employer to merge with US Airways rather than allow…

Compare the real-world results of conservative versus liberal governance in America.  In states like Wisconsin and Indiana, leaders such as Scott Walker and Mitch Daniels save their constituents from fiscal catastrophe.  In contrast, union-dominated liberal utopias like California continue to lurch toward their alternative Greek fate. …

A new report by the Heritage Foundation shows that President Barack Obama’s bailout of the auto industry was really a $26.5 billion wealth transfer to the United Auto Workers union.  But economic facts haven’t stopped the president’s campaign surrogates from trying to shift voter anger toward Mitt Romney.  During a conference…

Having the courage to speak the truth and trusting citizens to vote accordingly aren’t qualities normally associated with politicians these days.  But after the votes were counted in Wisconsin and San Jose, CA on June 5, two reformers stood head-and-shoulder above their fellow elected officials. In Wisconsin’s 2010 gubernatorial race…