PRINTER'S NO. 1156
No. 1072 Session of 1993
INTRODUCED BY VEON, BELFANTI, M. COHEN, KUKOVICH, COLAIZZO, FEE,
YANDRISEVITS, DALEY, FREEMAN, TRELLO, JOSEPHS, KASUNIC,
LEVDANSKY, MIHALICH, PETRARCA, ROONEY, LAUGHLIN, STURLA,
PISTELLA AND BELARDI, MARCH 29, 1993
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, MARCH 29, 1993
AN ACT
1 Prohibiting the use of replacement workers during a labor
2 dispute; prohibiting the use of employment agents and
3 contract employment agencies from recruitment or furnishing
4 of employees to replace employees in a labor dispute;
5 conferring powers and duties on the Department of Labor and
6 Industry; imposing a penalty; and making a repeal.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Short title.
10 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Strike
11 Violence Reduction Act.
12 Section 2. Declaration of policy.
13 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
14 (1) In order to fulfill its primary responsibilities of
15 preventing violence, providing for the general welfare and
16 protecting public peace and property, the Commonwealth shall
17 use its powers, as provided under the 10th amendment of the
18 Constitution of the United States, to prohibit the use of
19 strikebreakers and replacement workers by employers.
1 (2) The use of permanent replacement workers, or
2 strikebreakers, causes severe confrontations in the course of
3 a labor dispute which results in great expenditure of public
4 funds to maintain peace and prevent injury and death to
5 striking workers.
6 (3) The development of policies which diminish the need
7 for expending large sums of public funds to maintain peace
8 and prevent violence, public disturbances and destruction of
9 property and maintain the rights of free speech is essential
10 to the best interests of all citizens and businesses in this
11 Commonwealth.
12 Section 3. Definitions.
13 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
14 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
15 context clearly indicates otherwise:
16 "Department." The Department of Labor and Industry of the
17 Commonwealth.
18 "Employment agent." Any person, partnership, company,
19 agency, firm or corporation that:
20 (1) Must comply with the provisions of the act of July
21 31, 1941 (P.L.616, No.261), known as the Employment Agency
22 Law.
23 (2) Is hired by or in contract with, or arranges or
24 offers services to, a company for the purpose of recruiting,
25 selecting, supplying, hiring or employing individuals to fill
26 job vacancies or attain employment with the company.
27 "Strikebreaker." A person, other than a continuously
28 employed management person, who knowingly offers himself for
29 employment as a temporary or permanent replacement for an
30 employee engaged in a labor dispute.
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1 Section 4. Use of strikebreakers.
2 It shall be unlawful for an employer, including a government
3 agency and a political subdivision, or their representatives, to
4 hire, employ, recruit or procure an individual to replace an
5 employee engaged in a legal strike or involved in a collective
6 bargaining dispute.
7 Section 5. Recruitment of strikebreakers prohibited.
8 It shall be unlawful for an employment agent, or officer or
9 agent thereof, to send an applicant to a place where a strike, a
10 lockout or other labor dispute exists.
11 Section 6. Enforcement by department.
12 The department shall have the duty to:
13 (1) Ensure that an employer involved in a labor dispute
14 complies with the provisions of this act.
15 (2) Ensure that employment agents have not violated any
16 provision of this act.
17 (3) Investigate any complaints filed by an employee, his
18 designated representative or collective bargaining unit
19 alleging the hiring or recruitment of any strikebreakers.
20 (4) Establish a date when strikebreakers who were
21 employed in violation of section 4 or 5 must be dismissed by
22 the employer.
23 (5) Issue and enforce penalties as provided in section
24 8.
25 Section 7. Promulgations of regulations.
26 Within 120 days of the effective date of this act, the
27 department shall adopt regulations and standards necessary to
28 carry out the purposes of this act.
29 Section 8. Penalty.
30 A person who violates any provision of this act, or the rules
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1 and regulations pertaining thereto, commits a summary offense
2 and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
3 less than $1,000 nor more than $1,500.
4 Section 9. Repeals.
5 The act of July 12, 1972 (P.L.847, No.187), referred to as
6 the Strikebreaker Employment Act, is repealed.
7 Section 10. Effective date.
8 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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