Pa. House approves bill opening unemployment benefits to striking workers

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would make unemployment compensation benefits available to workers who go on strike in the commonwealth.

The sponsors of the legislation — state Reps. Rick Krajewski and Elizabeth Fiedler, both D-Philadelphia — said that state law prohibits striking workers from receiving unemployment compensation, which leaves the workers struggling to pay bills, buy groceries and take care of other necessities during contract negotiations. 

“Going on strike is an incredibly important safeguard and option of last resort for workers fighting bad bosses. It is a federally protected right under the National Labor Relations Act. But what good is a right that we can’t afford to exercise?” Krajewski said in a news release. “When our nation has created the wealthiest men in history while workers still struggle to put food on the table, providing unemployment compensation for workers who are taking the courageous step of withholding their labor is a necessary intervention.” 

House Bill 145, which aims to amend the state’s unemployment compensation law, would allow striking workers to collect unemployment compensation benefits after the mandatory one-week waiting period if they meet all of the other standard requirements.  

New York and New Jersey have similar laws concerning unemployment compensation, and workers in nine other states are eligible for the benefits while on strike under certain circumstances, such as an employer breaking a contract, according to the state representatives.

The legislation, which passed in the House 106-97, now moves to the state Senate for consideration. A similar bill sponsored by state Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, passed through the House in 2023 but died in the Senate.

“Going on strike takes remarkable bravery, but it shouldn’t have to mean that you and your family go hungry,” Fiedler said. “There are always going to be risks when going on strike, and unemployment compensation gives workers a basic degree of stability, allowing them to fight for better working conditions on a more level playing field.”