# 119-s-2731: Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2025

119-s-2731, Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2731
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-2731
- Congress: 119
- Title: Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-09-08
- Sponsor: Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 4
- Policy area: Labor and Employment
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Extends unemployment insurance to workers who cannot work because of labor disputes.** It would treat individuals employed but unable to work because of a strike, lock-out, or related labor dispute as unemployed for unemployment compensation and set eligibility to begin on the earliest of these dates: 14 days after a strike, the date a lock-out begins, the date an employer hires permanent replacement workers, or the date the strike or lock-out ends and the individual becomes unemployed. - Workers: Striking employees and people indirectly prevented from working would be eligible for unemployment compensation under the bill's timing rules. - Scope: The definition covers disputes about terms, tenure, conditions of employment and disputes over association or representation, even if the parties are not in a direct employer-employee relationship. - Unemployment programs: Claimants described by the bill would be excluded from the usual exemption to the work-availability requirement and so would be subject to work-availability or job-search checks tied to UI eligibility.

## Cosponsors (4)

- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2025-09-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-10-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-01-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2026-02-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Unemployment pay for striking workers: benefit, medium. If enacted, you would be treated as unemployed if you are employed but cannot work because of a labor dispute. You could get unemployment pay starting on the earliest of: 14 days after a strike begins; the date a lock-out begins; the date the employer hires permanent replacement workers; or the dat…
- Striking workers face work test: cost, medium. If enacted, people who cannot work because of a labor dispute as defined in the bill would no longer be exempt from the Social Security Act's work-availability test. That means these claimants would have to meet work-availability rules to get or keep unemployment benefits. This change would take ef…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-2731 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2731)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2731 (as of 2026-04-21).