Sponsors (15)
Introduced June 5, 2025 by Tammy Baldwin · Last progress June 5, 2025
This bill protects striking and locked-out workers' group health coverage and strengthens enforcement against employers who cut benefits, but it raises costs, regulatory burdens, and could prompt employers to change benefits or practices to limit exposure.
Employees who are on lawful strike or are locked out keep their employer-sponsored group health coverage during the labor dispute, making it much less likely they lose health insurance mid-dispute.
The bill strengthens workers' bargaining position by creating civil penalties and deterrents against employers who cut coverage during labor actions, reducing employer incentives to use benefit cuts as leverage.
The NLRB can hold corporate leaders individually accountable when they direct or knowingly allow unlawful cuts to coverage, increasing accountability for senior managers.
Employers and plan sponsors may face higher short-term costs to continue benefits during strikes or lockouts, costs that could be passed on to employees, customers, or lead to higher prices.
Maintaining coverage through prolonged disputes can strain health plan finances and risk higher premiums or reduced benefits later for all enrollees in those plans.
The new penalties and standards will likely increase litigation and compliance costs for employers (and possibly the NLRB), producing more disputes over what counts as an unlawful 'alteration' of coverage.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits employers from ending or changing group health plan coverage during employer lockouts or lawful strikes and creates civil penalties up to specified maximums for violations.
Makes it illegal for employers to end or change employees' group health plan coverage while the employer is conducting a lockout or while employees are engaged in a lawful strike, and creates civil money penalties for employers (and potentially directors or officers) who violate those rules. The bill adopts the ERISA definition of “group health plan,” instructs the National Labor Relations Board to assess penalties in addition to existing remedies, and sets maximum penalty amounts that increase for repeat or particularly harmful violations.