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Rep. Deluzio, Sen. Brown Introduce Bill to Protect Healthcare Rights of Striking Workers

March 8, 2023

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Senator Sherrod Brown (OH), Senator Bob Casey (PA), and Congresswoman Susan Wild (PA-7) introduced The Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act to protect striking or locked-out workers from being cut off from their healthcare. From Pennsylvania, to Ohio, and all across the country, as more workers are exercising their right to strike, employers often cancel or threaten to cancel health insurance for striking or locked out workers.

While the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) establishes workers’ right to strike as a protected activity and employees cannot be fired for striking, they can, and often do, threaten to cut workers’ healthcare as a coercive silencing tactic.

This bill would create a separate unfair labor practice category for when employers cut or alter workers’ health insurance while they are on strike or locked out, and violators would be subject to increasing levels of civil penalties.

“Protecting the right to strike means protecting workers from unfair strike-breaking tactics,” said Rep. Deluzio. “No company should be able to hold a worker’s health – or the well-being of their family – hostage during a labor dispute. I stand in solidarity with the striking workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as they bravely fight for better working conditions, even as they have been cut off from their healthcare by Block Communications. By leveling the power dynamics between workers and companies, this bill makes clear that stripping striking workers of health insurance is out of bounds.”

“Any union worker knows, strikes are always a last resort. Workers want to reach a fair agreement, so they can keep going to work and providing for their families. Workers almost never recover all the lost wages from a strike. But sometimes it’s the only option,” said Sen. Brown. “Our bill would protect workers’ and their families’ health during strikes and lockouts. And it would give workers the peace of mind that if they’re backed into a corner, they can stand up to corporate abuse, without the fear of losing their families’ health insurance.”

“While workers fight for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions, they should have the peace of mind knowing that their employers can’t kick them off their health care while they’re exercising their fundamental right to organize,” said Sen. Casey. “Senator Brown, Congressman Deluzio and I are introducing this bill to ensure workers don’t have to choose between health care and their voice in the workplace.”

“Workers who have been pushed to strike should not have their health care held hostage by some of the country’s wealthiest corporations as an intimidation tactic to force them into unacceptable contracts,” said Rep. Wild. “As we see rises in union activity across the country I will always stand with workers, fight to level the negotiations process, and protect the right to organize for better wages, better pay, and better conditions.”


Employers who commit the new type of unfair labor practice violation created by this bill will be subject to civil monetary penalties reflective of their history of violations, their size, the scope of the harm, and the public interest – a mechanism like what is used in the PRO Act.

Cutting off health insurance for striking or locked out workers threatens the health and wellbeing of workers, their families, and their communities, and has occurred in workplaces across the country.

This is not just a hypothetical issue: this is a current threat to workers. Employees of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been without healthcare for more than three months as they strike in response to unfair labor practices by the newspaper's owner, Block Communications, which is blocking workers from the affordable healthcare, wages, and the respect of union contracts that they need. Block Communications had refused to keep the existing health insurance coverage for workers involved in mailing, printing and distributing the paper. Subsequently, Block Communications terminated striking journalists’ healthcare plans leaving them and their families without healthcare coverage from the company altogether.

Members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union (BCTGM) Local 37 went without health care benefits for nearly two months in 2022 while on strike against Rich Products at the Jon Donaire Desserts plant in Santa Fe Springs, California.

GM dropped workers’ health care coverage during the nationwide UAW strike in 2019(link is external), including workers in Ohio(link is external). And in February 2022, Raytheon Technologies, owner of Collins Aerospace’s Plant in Troy, Ohio, tried to force nearly 300 employees, members of UAW Local 128, into an unfair contract by locking them out and withholding their paychecks and access to health insurance after management and the local union did not reach an agreement.


This legislation is supported by the following organizations: Communications Workers of America (CWA), NewsGuild-CWA, International Union, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers (BCTGM), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), International Association of Iron Workers (IW), and United Steelworkers (USW).

“Employers all too often come to the bargaining table ready to cut off workers’ health insurance as they attempt to bully workers seeking fair wages and safe working conditions, said USW President Thomas M. Conway. “This tactic is immoral, and it should be illegal. Sens. Brown and Casey and Reps. Deluzio and Wild’s Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act would eliminate this vindictive pressure point and ensure workers can continue to see their family doctor if they are locked out or forced onto the picket line.”

“Ironworkers have seen the employer tactic of cancelling health coverage to try to break a strike firsthand,” said Ross Templeton, IW Political and Legislative Director. “With this Act, no worker will need to choose between their kids’ healthcare and standing up for their rights on the job.”

“We thank Senators Brown and Casey and Representatives Deluzio and Wild for introducing the ‘Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act.’ Warrior Met strikers had their health care coverage cut off when they went on strike April 1, 2021,” said United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts. “The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) paid the health care coverage for those members for 23 months since strike began. We strongly support this legislation and urge Congress to pass it.”

“The BCTGM commends Senators Brown and Casey and Representatives Deluzio and Wild for introducing the ‘Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act’. Workers should not lose their health insurance for exercising their lawful right to strike or be threatened with loss of health coverage during the bargaining process,” said BCTGM President Anthony Shelton. “This legislation will go a long way in leveling the playing field for workers in the collective bargaining process.”

“Last October, CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, including mailers, typographers and journalists, went on strike after Block Communications, the billion dollar corporation that owns the newspaper, committed unfair labor practices and made unilateral changes to the workers’ healthcare. Instead of negotiating in good faith for a fair agreement, the Block Family further retaliated against the workers by terminating striking journalists’ healthcare altogether. It is unacceptable that greedy corporations like Block can get away with undermining the right to strike and forcing workers to choose between their healthcare and a voice on the job,” said CWA President Chris Shelton. “Workers' ability to exercise their legally protected right to strike should not come at the expense of their access to the healthcare benefits they have earned. CWA is proud to stand with our champions in Congress in support of this legislation that would end this abuse of power by corporations who seek to weaken our labor laws."

"We wholeheartedly support legislation that would make it an unfair labor practice for employers to cut off workers from their health care during a strike. Our members struck at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in October and the Block family, which owns the Post-Gazette, quickly moved to attack the members by cancelling their health insurance. Some of our members suffer from chronic health issues and it's essential they remain protected while engaging in a strike to hold their own employer to account. We thank Senators Brown and Casey and Representatives Wild and Deluzio for standing with striking workers engaged in protected collective actions," said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss.

“Too many large employers claim to respect their workers—until those workers ask for something they don’t want to provide, such as decent wages. And some employers are quick to engage in cruel retaliatory tactics. When employees try to exercise their right to withhold their labor, some employers take away health insurance, such as we saw recently with the Temple University Graduate Students’ Association. Until our country’s labor laws are reformed to level the playing field, stopgap laws are necessary to protect working people who have to resort to a strike to make their voices heard. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Health Care for Striking Workers Act would create an unfair labor practice category with civil monetary penalties when employers deny important benefits to workers who walk off the job. Sen. Brown stands with workers, and his legislation would meaningfully protect the health and livelihoods of striking workers. I urge all members of Congress to support this legislation and pass it immediately,” said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

You can find the
full bill text here.

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