Union Busters

Republican House members propose legislation that says going on strike makes a worker's family -- kids and all -- ineligible for food stamps:

A New Plan to Stop Strikes Before They Start, by Steve Benen: Most of the union-busting schemes we've seen in recent months have come at the state level, but Zaid Jilani flags one at the federal level that hasn't generated much attention at all.

GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Tim Scott (SC), Scott Garrett (NJ), Dan Burton (IN), and Louie Gohmert (TX) have introduced H.R. 1135...

Much of the bill is based upon verifying that those who receive food stamps benefits are meeting the federal requirements for doing so. However, one section buried deep within the bill adds a startling new requirement. The bill, if passed, would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer.

If this seems unusually punitive, that's because it is. The message these Republican lawmakers want to send is as straightforward as it is callous: if you go on strike, your family should have less access to food. ...

It's worth noting, of course, that's extremely unlikely the Democratic Senate and/or Democratic White House would go along with the House Republican plan to punish striking workers like this, but the fact that several prominent GOP lawmakers would even consider this worthwhile says a great deal about their priorities.

Update: I am notified via Twitter that there is a bill to remove *current* restrictions on federal, state, or local government employees that has been proposed by Democrat Joe Baca:

Official Summary

2/8/2011--Introduced.Worker Eligibility Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to eliminate the provision making a federal, state, or local government employee who is dismissed for participating in a strike against the federal government, the state, or a political subdivision of the state ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps).