He has written widely on labor and employment policy issues[1] and is the author of the books The Job Training Charade[2] and The One Percent Solution.

[13] He worked for ILWU Local 142, helping coordinate the boycott of the Pacific Beach Hotel,[14] which[clarification needed] was found guilty of multiple labor law violations in federal court.

The bill was introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce, but never became law.

[24] He is the founding co-chair of the American Political Science Association's Labor Project,[25] and serves on the board of directors of the Shalom Hartman Institute,[26] a pluralistic center of research and education deepening and elevating the quality of Jewish life in Israel and around the world.

[30][31] Lafer's work has appeared in The Nation[32] and U.S. News & World Report[33] and has been featured in The Washington Post,[34] The New York Times,[35] Fortune magazine,[36] and other publications.