Ross Eisenbrey
Vice President
Areas of expertise
Labor and employment law • Occupational safety and health • Pension policy
Biography
Vice president of EPI since 2003, Ross Eisenbrey is a lawyer and former commissioner of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Prior to joining EPI, he worked for many years as a staff attorney and legislative director in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a committee counsel in the U.S. Senate. He served as policy director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from 1999 until 2001. He has testified in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and has written scores of articles, issue briefs and policy memos on a wide range of labor issues.
Education
University of Michigan Law School, J.D. 1978
Middlebury College, B.A. 1974
Publications by Ross Eisenbrey
Blog
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April 26, 2013 | Workers Memorial Day thoughts
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April 18, 2013 | Fox News wannabe: Washington Post disses France
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April 17, 2013 | Gang of Eight bill delivers on bold, broad legalization of undocumented workers
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April 16, 2013 | The Working Families Flexibility Act is a fraud
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March 26, 2013 | Striking J-1 students want justice from McDonald’s and U.S. State Department
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March 7, 2013 | In support of the Fair Minimum Wage Act
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March 4, 2013 | For 20-somethings, the no-limits, no-pay job
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Feb. 22, 2013 | Problems in the high tech labor market
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Feb. 21, 2013 | The PhD bust
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Feb. 20, 2013 | Close to slavery
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Feb. 13, 2013 | Immigration reform and the minimum wage
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Jan. 30, 2013 | Guestworker expansions don’t belong in comprehensive immigration reform
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Jan. 16, 2013 | AARP comes out against COLA cut
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Jan. 11, 2013 | Don’t be fooled by Apple’s PR: Workers strike against sweatshop conditions
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Jan. 10, 2013 | Unpaid internships: Denying opportunities and exploiting young workers
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Jan. 9, 2013 | Michigan’s ‘right-to-work-for-less’ legislation: Bad for workers, undemocratic, fundamentally immoral
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Jan. 9, 2013 | Michelle Rhee gets a failing grade on her report card
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Dec. 21, 2012 | Fiscal fiasco: The first to be hurt will be the unemployed
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Dec. 18, 2012 | Social Security has no place in ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations
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Dec. 14, 2012 | Ease of doing business in U.S. and record corporate profits contradict Chamber’s regulatory complaints
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Dec. 13, 2012 | Right-to-work-for-less passes in Michigan
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Dec. 5, 2012 | Want jobs? Kill the Bush tax cuts and extend Emergency Unemployment Compensation
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Dec. 5, 2012 | Fixing a problem that doesn’t exist: Special interest STEM immigration bills are not needed
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Nov. 26, 2012 | WaPo ignores facts on Social Security COLA
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Nov. 21, 2012 | Immigration reform and indentured guest workers don’t go together
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Nov. 20, 2012 | Rush Limbaugh and other unbalanced observers blame ‘the union’
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Nov. 7, 2012 | Don’t let the lame duck session undercut necessary financial oversight
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Nov. 2, 2012 | Center for Immigration Studies goes political on jobs numbers
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Oct. 23, 2012 | Anti-regulatory malarkey
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Oct. 22, 2012 | House Republicans block remedy for China’s job-killing currency intervention
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Oct. 18, 2012 | Fighting waste and abuse in defense contractor pay
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Oct. 18, 2012 | Celebrate the Clean Water Act
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Oct. 16, 2012 | Only a minority of Americans think there is too much regulation
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Oct. 12, 2012 | Remembering Paul Wellstone
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Oct. 11, 2012 | Walmart strikes dramatize third-world inequities
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Sept. 27, 2012 | Pension report misses obvious causes of underfunding
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Sept. 26, 2012 | Rare conservative-progressive agreement: Corporate capture of the government is a bad thing
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Sept. 25, 2012 | Recent federal regulation coincides with manufacturing employment gains
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Sept. 25, 2012 | Retirement proposals a big step forward
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Sept. 17, 2012 | Obama tackles illegal Chinese auto parts subsidies
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Sept. 13, 2012 | Chicago’s schools and the polite Pinkertons of educational reform
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Sept. 7, 2012 | Card check survives as way to choose a union
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Aug. 30, 2012 | Congress: Put emergency unemployment compensation in the continuing resolution
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Aug. 28, 2012 | Key goals of 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom are still unmet
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Aug. 24, 2012 | Apple in China: Failing to make good on its commitment?
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Aug. 23, 2012 | Bad economics leads to bad H-2B guest worker legislation
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Aug. 22, 2012 | MAPI report on regulation is latest example of business-sponsored junk science
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Aug. 14, 2012 | Parade Magazine decries poor state of public school facilities
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June 29, 2012 | Combating foreign currency manipulation would boost manufacturing and U.S. jobs
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June 21, 2012 | Supreme Court contorts itself to deny overtime protection to 90,000 pharmaceutical employees
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June 19, 2012 | NLRB uses new tool to help us understand our rights
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June 15, 2012 | Another suicide at Apple’s key supplier in China
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June 14, 2012 | Congress should fix Postal Service pension problem it created
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June 1, 2012 | Center for Public Integrity makes a strong case for more regulation and better enforcement
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June 1, 2012 | New York Times pension reporter ignores inconvenient truths
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May 29, 2012 | How’s that immigrant-bashing thing workin’ for ya?
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May 24, 2012 | Management—bad management—crippled the auto industry’s Big Three, not the UAW
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May 24, 2012 | Alan Simpson isn’t ‘saving Social Security’
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May 16, 2012 | Bernard ‘B’ Rapoport remembered
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May 10, 2012 | Organized business’s knee-jerk opposition to paid sick days legislation
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April 25, 2012 | Attempt to block labor election modernization goes down in flames
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April 20, 2012 | The fashion industry’s illegal unpaid internships
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April 18, 2012 | Apple’s iPhone profits dwarf its labor costs
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April 11, 2012 | Thank God for trial lawyers
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April 9, 2012 | Social Security privatizer Pozen attacks public employee pensions
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April 6, 2012 | Washington Post misdiagnoses causes of retirement insecurity
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April 4, 2012 | Apple’s employees in China don’t work 70 hours a week because they want to
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April 3, 2012 | Fair Labor Association report leaves big questions about change at Apple/Foxconn
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March 29, 2012 | Harkin bill would revive the American Dream
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March 2, 2012 | Pushing back against illegal unpaid internships
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Feb. 24, 2012 | Post editorial criticizes Md. schools, public pensions, school boards, teacher unions, and Gov. O’Malley — but misses all targets
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Feb. 17, 2012 | Whitewashing the Apple
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Feb. 15, 2012 | Bad Apple labor practices: Promises have been made before
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Feb. 14, 2012 | Labor Department tackles guest worker problems
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Feb. 9, 2012 | Auto industry roars back, everyone cheers (except anti-government conservatives)
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Feb. 7, 2012 | Unpaid internships: A scourge on the labor market
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Feb. 3, 2012 | Another win for the 1%: ‘Right to work’ signed into law in Indiana
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Jan. 31, 2012 | It’s not time to cut back on extended unemployment insurance
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Jan. 12, 2012 | Income inequality is a policy choice
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Jan. 11, 2012 | The NLRB protects the right of non-union employees to fair pay
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Jan. 5, 2012 | Unpaid internships hurt mobility
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Dec. 22, 2011 | Some ugly views about the unemployed among congressional Republicans
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Dec. 21, 2011 | House vote will hurt millions of unemployed workers
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Dec. 14, 2011 | Snapshot: Unemployment insurance benefits increase job-search activities
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Dec. 7, 2011 | President Obama got it right; Fox news gets it wrong
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Nov. 18, 2011 | Labor-HHS spending bill would make terrible changes in labor law and regulation
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Nov. 15, 2011 | New evidence that the chained CPI is unfair to seniors
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Nov. 9, 2011 | Ohio rejects assault on union rights and wages
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Nov. 1, 2011 | The chained CPI: Budget treachery
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Oct. 31, 2011 | New book by Ray Marshall: Value-Added Immigration
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Oct. 17, 2011 | Baby steps toward fixing our schools
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Sept. 15, 2011 | Contrary to misinformation campaign, NLRB Boeing ruling consistent with long-established labor law
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Sept. 12, 2011 | Boeing and House Republicans abuse their power
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Sept. 9, 2011 | The long and winding road to the American Jobs Act
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Sept. 8, 2011 | Obama’s American Jobs Act is mostly on the mark
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Sept. 7, 2011 | Georgia Works doesn’t work
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Sept. 7, 2011 | Fixing schools, creating jobs
Report
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Sept. 13, 2012 | California retirement plan could serve as a national model
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Nov. 17, 2011 | Rehberg’s proposed riders to Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act would undercut American workers
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Sept. 2, 2011 | Putting America back to work: Policies for job creation and stronger economic growth
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Aug. 18, 2011 | Crain and Crain’s OSHA cost estimates are way off base
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May 10, 2011 | The JOBS Act will result in fewer, not more jobs
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May 25, 2010 | New jobs bill would save or create well over a million jobs
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March 30, 2010 | Business Success and First Contract Arbitration
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March 16, 2010 | An analysis of the Local Jobs for America Act
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Nov. 10, 2009 | Fast-Track Entitlements Commission is the Wrong Approach for Social Security
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Oct. 20, 2009 | The plan to end the jobs crisis—The economy requires a comprehensive response for a full recovery
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June 25, 2009 | First-Contract Arbitration Facts: The Canadian Experience
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Jan. 29, 2009 | The Employee Free Choice Act: Questions and Answers
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Oct. 31, 2008 | The Economy in Numbers
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Sept. 29, 2008 | Bailout plan must help the middle class and grow the economy
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Jan. 11, 2008 | Strategy for economic rebound: Smart stimulus to counteract the economic slowdown
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Dec. 21, 2007 | Retirement Security
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May 23, 2007 | The work-family balance: An analysis of European, Japanese, and U.S. work-time policies
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Nov. 20, 2006 | Tort costs and the economy: Myths, exaggerations, and propaganda
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Sept. 5, 2006 | The Potential Impact of NLRB’s Supervisor Cases: A State-by-State Analysis
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Aug. 9, 2006 | Guest worker programs should include strong wage protections for U.S. workers
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July 31, 2006 | House-passed minimum wage bill cuts wages for tipped employees in seven states by as much as $5.60 per hour
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July 12, 2006 | Supervisor in name only: Union rights of eight million workers at stake in Labor Board ruling
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Dec. 22, 2005 | What’s wrong with the economy?
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July 14, 2005 | Two Steps Back: African Americans and Latinos will lose ground under Social Security ‘reform’
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May 25, 2005 | Reaction and Response: Answers to Towers Perrin’s ‘Corrections and Clarifications’
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May 16, 2005 | The frivolous case for tort law change: Opponents of the legal system exaggerate its costs, ignore its benefits
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July 14, 2004 | Longer Hours, Less Pay – Labor Department’s new rules could strip overtime protection from millions of workers
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Jan. 14, 2004 | The Truth Behind the Administration’s Numbers on Overtime Pay
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June 25, 2003 | Eliminating the right to overtime pay: Department of Labor proposal means lower pay, longer hours for millions of workers
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April 1, 2003 | The Naked Truth About Comp Time
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March 25, 2003 | Time’s Up for the Unemployed
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May 1, 2002 | Pensions under assault
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Feb. 1, 2002 | No More Enrons: Protecting 401(k) Plans for a Safe Retirement
Economic snapshot
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April 25, 2013 | Gang of 8 bill could give nearly half of new IT jobs requiring a college degree to guestworkers
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Jan. 3, 2013 | Workplace injuries and illnesses cost U.S. $250 billion annually
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June 6, 2012 | As unions decline, inequality rises
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May 23, 2012 | Lack of government data on internships leaves policymakers in the dark
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Jan. 9, 2012 | “Right-to-work” hurts private-sector pension coverage
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Dec. 14, 2011 | Unemployment insurance benefits increase job-search activities
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May 31, 2011 | Government regulations save lives on the job
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Aug. 9, 2010 | State and local job losses threaten recovery
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Feb. 17, 2010 | The Recovery Act worked
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Sept. 16, 2009 | Americans agree on how to fix Social Security
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Aug. 18, 2009 | No coercion in card check
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May 20, 2009 | Employers can stall first union contract for years
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Jan. 14, 2009 | Downtime: Workers forced to settle for fewer hours
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June 4, 2008 | Bush Budget Spends 100 Times More to Regulate Unions
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Feb. 27, 2008 | Ohio Voters and Candidates Take a Dim View of NAFTA
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Dec. 4, 2007 | Canada’s health system beats U.S. in cost and results
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Sept. 18, 2007 | Health insurance industry employment outpacing providers and all-industry growth rates
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June 20, 2007 | Strong unions, strong productivity
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Feb. 28, 2007 | Workers want unions now more than ever
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Dec. 6, 2006 | Federal support for employment and training services dwindles
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Sept. 28, 2005 | Gulf families’ recovery at risk
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Oct. 22, 2003 | Long-term unemployment reveals need for another extension of unemployment insurance benefits
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March 7, 2003 | Are health costs postponing retirement?
Testimony
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Feb. 14, 2013 | Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, regarding the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act
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July 10, 2012 | EPI public comments on State Department’s changes to J-1 visa Summer Work Travel program
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May 17, 2011 | EPI experts submit public comments supporting the Department of Labor’s sweeping changes to H-2B guestworker program
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May 5, 2011 | Supplemental Testimony: The Department of Labor’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act
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April 14, 2011 | Testimony: The Department of Labor’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act
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Nov. 15, 2010 | EPI experts submit public comments on proposed changes to H-2B guest worker program
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Oct. 7, 2010 | The Wobbly Stool: Retirement (In)security in America
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June 26, 2008 | Testimony before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Committee on Ways and Means
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April 16, 2008 | Reforming the H-2B non-immigrant visa program

Commentary
Feb. 8, 2013 | America’s Genius Glut
Dec. 1, 2012 | Paid sick leave a wise investment
July 13, 2012 | Economic research supports raising the minimum wage
June 11, 2012 | Regulatory freeze legislation ignores deadly consequences of existing regulatory delays
May 24, 2012 | Blocking Labor Department wage rule condemns young Americans to unemployment
May 16, 2012 | A bold step forward: Assessing the State Department’s new J-1 Summer Work Travel regulations
April 20, 2012 | Prospects for improved working conditions for Apple workers: Lessons from the EPI panel
Feb. 16, 2012 | Misguided CPU Act would cut tech workers’ wages
Feb. 10, 2012 | EPI applauds new Labor Department immigration rules that protect U.S. and foreign workers
Oct. 26, 2011 | Jobs and fairness: ‘prevailing wage’ rule good for Marylanders
Sept. 9, 2011 | Delegation of legal experts finds credible accounts of J-1 abuses at Hershey
Sept. 2, 2011 | A jobs program — and a boon for kids
Aug. 17, 2011 | Hershey Co. strike highlights abuses in the J-1 program
July 18, 2011 | Has anyone heard of due process?
June 13, 2011 | No Pension, No Security
May 5, 2011 | Supplemental Testimony: The Department of Labor’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act
April 14, 2011 | Testimony: The Department of Labor’s implementation of the Davis-Bacon Act
April 5, 2011 | Magical thinking won’t create jobs: Heritage forecasts for Ryan plan are fantasy
March 16, 2011 | The Chamber of Commerce’s Employment Regulation Index
Feb. 11, 2011 | Colombia’s Anti-Union Violence Rules out FTA
Oct. 1, 2010 | Another step towards immigration reform
Sept. 20, 2010 | Raising the retirement age not necessary to save Social Security
May 13, 2010 | The real deficit crisis: Jobs
May 5, 2010 | EPI responds to university presidents on internship regulations
March 10, 2010 | EPI applauds Local Jobs for America Act
Feb. 22, 2010 | More than 1 million long-term unemployed could lose benefits without extension
June 3, 2009 | Setting the record straight on GM
April 28, 2009 | Gingrich is just plain wrong on EFCA
March 10, 2009 | Why we need Retirement USA
Feb. 9, 2009 | Senate compromise on stimulus flunks economics test
Feb. 6, 2009 | Stimulus drifting into bad ideas
Feb. 3, 2009 | Questions, answers on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
July 31, 2008 | Fairness shortage
July 31, 2008 | Labor’s ‘guests’ are anything but
April 16, 2008 | Reforming the H-2B non-immigrant visa program
Feb. 14, 2008 | Be wary of half-a-loaf economic stimulus
Sept. 10, 2007 | Stop corporate abuse and fix layoff warning law
Sept. 4, 2007 | Much work to do to ensure future Labor Days brighter: Post-WW II gains for all workers must be reclaimed
Aug. 14, 2007 | Book would make bad policy: WVU professor comes up short on economics
May 4, 2007 | Subsidizing Downward Mobility: The problem with the Democrats’ proposed wage insurance program
Oct. 31, 2006 | The declining rights of workers
Aug. 4, 2006 | Another way for business to abuse workers
March 20, 2006 | New trade deals that could cripple Ohio
Dec. 13, 2005 | Help with health care costs, factory changes would save jobs | EPI Viewpoints
Dec. 12, 2005 | Union declines hurt all workers
Aug. 10, 2005 | Family and Medical Leave Act under assault: New restrictions, narrower definition of ‘serious illness’ pushed by business groups
Sept. 10, 2004 | Millions to lose overtime pay
May 20, 2004 | A Closer Examination of the Department of Labor’s Final Overtime Regulations
May 11, 2004 | Fair Pay Facts: The Department of Labor’s Misrepresentations About Its Overtime Rule
May 5, 2004 | On the Department of Labor’s Final Overtime Regulations
March 24, 2004 | Saying goodbye to overtime checks
March 4, 2004 | On the President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget for the U.S. Department of Labor
Jan. 9, 2004 | Rose-Colored Glasses Don’t Help the Jobless
Dec. 10, 2003 | On the Department of Labor’s Proposed Overtime Regulations
Oct. 26, 2003 | Extend unemployment benefits
Sept. 2, 2003 | Sad Labor Day for working Americans
Aug. 15, 2003 | Eight million workers to lose overtime
March 31, 2003 | Just What the Worker Needs—Longer Days, No Overtime | EPI Viewpionts
March 28, 2003 | The eight-million-piece puzzle | EPI Viewpoints
March 28, 2003 | Paul Wellstone’s unfinished business