Congressional Allies Introduce Bill to Protect Striking Workers’ Healthcare

 
Representative Chris Deluzio stands with striking CWA members on their picket line at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

When working people risk everything to hold employers accountable through the power of the strike, unscrupulous corporations resort to strike-breaking tactics like threatening to cancel families’ health insurance.

Last week, Representatives Chris Deluzio and Sarah McBride took action to level the playing field by reintroducing the Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act. The bill would make it an unfair labor practice to cut or alter workers’ health insurance while they are on strike or locked out and hold employers accountable with increasing civil monetary penalties.

"CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and all across the country know all too well the power of corporations that hold our healthcare hostage. It is totally unconscionable for a company to cut off workers' healthcare—putting the health of workers and their families in jeopardy—in retaliation for them standing up to protect their rights and dignity on the job. CWA is proud to support the Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act and thanks Representatives Deluzio and McBride for their fearless leadership in standing up to protect workers' healthcare and rights," said CWA Director of Government Affairs Dan Mauer.

“No company should be able to hold a worker’s health—or the well-being of their family—hostage during a labor dispute,” said Representative Deluzio. “We need a level playing field, and this bill puts the act of ripping health insurance away from striking workers out of bounds.”

“No worker should be forced to choose between exercising their right to strike and protecting their family’s health,” said Representative McBride. “When employers cut off health care during a strike or lockout, they aren’t negotiating. Workers deserve a voice at the table without having their lives or livelihoods held hostage.”

---

This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.