Blumenthal backs health insurance protections for striking workers
HBJ PHOTO | HARRIET JONES
Machinists at East Hartford-based jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney on the picket line during the first week of the strike.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is co-sponsoring a bill that would protect the healthcare benefits of striking workers.
The Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act would prevent employers from canceling or altering health insurance for workers during a labor dispute.
Last month, striking workers at Pratt & Whitney reported that they were cut off from their health insurance once the walk-out went into a third week.
A majority of 3,000 union machinists ultimately ratified a new four-year contract May 27 after a three-week strike, the first at the company in 20 years.
Announcing his support for the bill, Blumenthal said that it aims to level the playing field during a dispute.
“Corporations retaliate against striking workers who are fighting for better pay and safer working conditions by stripping them and their families of the health insurance they rely on,” he said. “This is a cruel and callous intimidation tactic used across the country and in Connecticut just a few weeks ago at Pratt & Whitney.”
The National Labor Relations Act establishes workers’ right to strike as a protected activity, and employees cannot be fired for striking. But employers can cut workers’ health care or wages while they remain on strike.
The 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 civil penalties.
Numerous unions including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represented the Pratt & Whitney workers, have backed the legislation.
Meanwhile a bill passed by the Connecticut House and Senate this session that would make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits. The measure, which would go into effect at the end of 2026, allows strikers to apply for benefits once they have been on strike for 14 consecutive days.
Gov. Ned Lamont has announced his intention to veto the bill.
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