With the current administration and Congress, we have a major opportunity to build power for working people and advance economic and racial justice—but only if we get the policy right. Now is the time for Congress to pass the PRO Act, a $15 minimum wage, and the Build Back Better agenda, which makes vital investments in child care, home health care, climate, and more.”
Biography
Celine McNicholas is the director of policy and government affairs/general counsel at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that uses the power of its research on economic trends and the impact of economic policies to advance reforms that serve working people, deliver racial justice, and guarantee gender equity. McNicholas assumed the policy director position in October 2021. She has served as EPI’s director of government affairs and labor counsel since 2017.
An attorney, McNicholas leads EPI’s legislative efforts on a wide range of workers’ rights issues, including labor law reform, collective bargaining, and union organizing. Her research has informed policymakers, advocates, and journalists on why unions are good for workers, how current labor law fails to protect the right to unionize, and why workers need legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to restore the right to unionize.
Before joining EPI, McNicholas served as director of congressional and public affairs and as special counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). At the NLRB, she counseled presidential nominees to the board and the general counsel throughout the Senate confirmation process. In addition, McNicholas was responsible for the agency’s congressional affairs work including all agency oversight matters.
From 2009 to 2013, she served as senior labor counsel to Ranking Member George Miller (D-Calif.) for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. In that role, she advised Rep. Miller on legal issues surrounding the Fair Labor Standards Act, National Labor Relations Act, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Davis– Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, and project labor agreements. Before working for the committee, McNicholas was a legislative staffer for both U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak from Pennsylvania and U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas from Massachusetts.
Education
J.D., Villanova University School of Law
B.A., Mount Holyoke College
Areas of expertise
Labor and employment law • Collective bargaining • Union organizing • Regulatory policy
By Content:
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What’s behind the corporate effort to kneecap the National Labor Relations Board?: SpaceX, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and Starbucks are trying to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional—after collectively being charged with hundreds of violations of workers’ organizing rights
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Workers want unions, but the latest data point to obstacles in their path: Private-sector unionization rose by more than a quarter million in 2023, while unionization in state and local governments fell
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What to know about this summer’s strike activity: What’s spurring the rise in labor actions?
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Unions promote racial equity
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It’s not just the actors—workers across the economy are demanding better pay and safer jobs
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Supreme Court justices’ close ties with business interests threaten workers’ rights
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Workers are winning union elections, but it can take years to get their first contract
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Employers spend more than $400 million per year on ‘union-avoidance’ consultants to bolster their union-busting efforts
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Employers regularly engage in tactics to suppress unions: Examples at Starbucks, Amazon, and Google illustrate employers’ anti-union playbook
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Major strike activity increased nearly 50% in 2022: Upcoming Supreme Court case threatens workers’ ability to strike
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EPI retracts fact sheet on employer violations in union elections
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EPI comments on NLRB’s proposed rulemaking on Fair Choice and Employee Voice
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Unionization increased by 200,000 in 2022: Tens of millions more wanted to join a union, but couldn’t
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EPI response comments regarding the NLRB’s Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status
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News from EPI › Worker democracy is at risk if Congress does not increase NLRB funding
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EPI comments on NLRB’s proposed rulemaking on the Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status
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EPI comment on proposal to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement an Executive Order pertaining to project labor agreements in Federal construction projects
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Union approval hits highest point since 1965: Here’s why this isn’t surprising
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President Biden’s first 18 months: Assessing the Biden administration’s record for workers
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National survey of gig workers paints a picture of poor working conditions, low pay
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The U.S. tax code functionally rewards corporations who use anti-union consultants: Congress must take action
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Congress should boost NLRB funding to protect workers’ well-being
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Data show major strike activity increased in 2021 but remains below pre-pandemic levels: Many worker actions were not captured in the data
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Project labor agreements on federal construction projects will benefit nearly 200,000 workers
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Latest data release on unionization is a wake-up call to lawmakers: We must fix our broken system of labor law
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More than $3 billion in stolen wages recovered for workers between 2017 and 2020
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Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy: High unionization levels are associated with positive outcomes across multiple indicators of economic, personal, and democratic well-being
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Worker protection agencies need more funding to enforce labor laws and protect workers
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Civil monetary penalties for labor violations are woefully insufficient to protect workers
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Misclassification, the ABC test, and employee status: The California experience and its relevance to current policy debates