NEWS: As Nationwide Strike Wave Takes Hold, Casar, Fetterman, & Adams Introduce Bill to Provide SNAP Benefits for Striking Workers

WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Alma Adams (D-NC), along with Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman, introduced the Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023, legislation to allow striking workers to qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

The introduction of this bill comes as several high-profile strikes are currently taking place across the country. 

Currently, striking workers and their households are excluded from SNAP eligibility and cannot receive SNAP benefits unless they were previously eligible before the strike. While union funds can sometimes reduce the financial stress of striking, workers often still face serious financial insecurity when on strike due to loss of income. Further, many striking workers are not union members, meaning they have an even smaller safety net, if any at all. The Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023 would repeal the restriction on striking workers from receiving SNAP.

“We need to get rid of the anti-union provisions in our code that starve striking workers,” said Rep. Casar. “We’re seeing workers exercise their rights across the country by going on strike to demand better wages and working conditions. That’s why our bill, the Food Secure Strikers Act, is more important now than ever. We need to stop starving strikers, and ensure all working families are able to make ends meet.”

“Every union worker who is walking the picket line this summer needs to know that we have their back here in Washington,” said Sen. Fetterman. “The union way of life is sacred. It’s what built Pennsylvania and this nation. It is critical for us to protect workers’ right to organize, and that includes making sure they and their families have the resources to support themselves while on strike. As Chair of the Nutrition Subcommittee and an advocate for the union way of life, this bill is just plain common sense. I’m proud to introduce this bill that will eliminate the need for workers to choose between fighting for fair working conditions and putting food on the table for their families.”

“No one in the United States should go hungry, especially for exercising rights guaranteed by law. That’s why I’m proud to join my colleagues in leading the Food Secure Strikers Act,” said Rep. Adams. “This bill ensures striking workers receive SNAP benefits they are entitled to, and makes sure strikers and their families are not discriminated against. Strong labor protections and fair pay are the best defense against food insecurity, and we can’t forget we have the labor movement to thank for that progress. I am grateful to partner with my House colleagues and Senator Fetterman on this legislation at a critical moment for striking workers.”

The Food Secure Strikers Act is also endorsed by numerous unions and anti-hunger organizations, including the United Food and Commercial Workers, Teamsters, National Education Association, Communications Workers of America, Food Research Action Center, and Hunger-Free America.

“It’s good to see lawmakers attempting to correct the wrongs of the past by reinstating a benefit for striking workers that never should have been taken away in the first place,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Congress should never pass laws that punish American workers and hopefully this amendment is a repudiation of that practice.”

“When workers make the incredibly difficult decision to go on strike, they should not have to worry about lack of access to basic nutrition. While support from a union and the community can help alleviate the financial strain workers may face, it is not always enough,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “That is why UFCW is proud to support Sen. Fetterman, Rep. Adams, and Rep. Casar’s Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023. This legislation would ensure that any income-eligible household can access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program regardless of whether a member of that household is involved in a strike. Now more than ever, we must protect workers who are standing together to improve their working conditions and build the better life they have earned and deserve.”

“Workers who make the difficult decision to go on strike are coming together to lift the standard of living and gain more respect for all working people,” said Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association. “They are prepared to make sacrifices—but going hungry should not be one of them. The Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023 will help ensure that when striking workers stand in solidarity for better working conditions and wages they can receive SNAP benefits so they don’t put themselves and their families at risk.”

The Food Secure Strikers Act would:

• Repeal the restriction on striking workers from receiving SNAP and affirmatively protect the eligibility of striking workers to receive SNAP;
• Protect public sector workers who are fired for striking from being “considered to have voluntarily quit” for eligibility purposes; and;
• Clarify that any income-eligible household can receive SNAP benefits regardless of if a member of that household is involved in a strike.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.