PRINTER'S NO. 943
No. 843 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY MAYERNIK, HERSHEY, BROWNE AND FAIRCHILD,
MARCH 12, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 12, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," setting forth public policy relating
6 to strikes, including financial adjustments.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
10 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
11 section to read:
12 Section 1134. Public Policy Relating to Strikes;
13 Assessments.--(a) The Constitution of Pennsylvania requires the
14 General Assembly to provide for a thorough and efficient system
15 of public education. Existing law requires one hundred eighty
16 (180) days of instruction each year as established by the school
17 calendar. The scheduled one hundred eighty (180) days of
18 instruction are lost or rescheduled when a strike occurs. Days
19 lost or rescheduled are made up as much as possible by canceling
1 scheduled vacation days and holidays and extending the school
2 year resulting in severe disruption of the educational process
3 and family life. Guarantees for the protection of the public
4 health, safety and welfare are not kept inviolate when
5 instructional days are lost or rescheduled. Therefore, it is the
6 intent of the General Assembly that equal financial assessments
7 be imposed on those responsible for strike disruptions.
8 (b) Whenever an instructional day, in accordance with the
9 officially adopted original calendar of instructional days
10 approved by the board of directors, is lost or rescheduled as
11 the result of a strike, each employe who participates in the
12 strike shall be assessed a sum equal to one one-hundred-
13 eightieth (1/180) of that year's annual salary or wages for each
14 day of the strike. The school district shall be assessed by the
15 Commonwealth a sum equal to the total daily wages or salaries of
16 the striking employes from its Equalized Subsidy for Basic
17 Education (ESBE) payments calculated under Article XXV of this
18 act. In the case of an intermediate unit or area vocational-
19 technical school, the respective agency shall be assessed a sum
20 equal to the total daily wages or salaries of the striking
21 employes. The constituent districts of the respective agency
22 shall have a sum proportionate to the district's percentage of
23 enrollment deducted from the Equalized Subsidy for Basic
24 Education (ESBE) as provided for in Article XXV of this act. The
25 assessment paid by the employer shall not exceed the total
26 amount of annual subsidies due. The school district shall
27 deduct, in equal installments over the remaining pay periods,
28 the amount of the assessment it determines to be due under this
29 section from the compensation payable to the assessed employe.
30 Assessments required under this section shall not be waived,
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1 suspended or reduced after the signing of a collective
2 bargaining agreement or as a condition for the agreement. The
3 scheduling of days to make up instructional days lost because of
4 a strike shall not constitute a basis for a rescission of or a
5 set-off for an assessment owed by or deducted from the school
6 district or for the payment of compensation to a striking
7 employe under this section. Assessments due under this section
8 shall be paid in the school year in which the strike occurs.
9 (c) As used in this section, the term "strike" shall mean a
10 concerted action in failing to report for duty, the wilful
11 absence from one's position, the stoppage of work, slowdown or
12 the abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful and
13 proper performance of the duties of employment for the purpose
14 of inducing, influencing or coercing a change in the conditions
15 or compensation or the rights, privileges or obligations of
16 employment.
17 Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 1998.
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