Labor leaders call out Rep. Mackenzie’s anti-union past

June 25, 2026

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Good afternoon everyone,

It’s Thursday, June 25, and welcome back to another edition of the Keystone Labor Report. You can find Tuesday’s edition here.

If there’s one thing I hate doing the most, it’s moving into a new apartment. I have been in Harrisburg for close to 12 years now, and I am moving into my third apartment during this time.

With electric rates and other expenses going through the roof, I am downsizing into a smaller place with the hopes of saving money and, hopefully, moving to Philadelphia at some point in the future.

This is just one way the ongoing affordability issue has affected me over the past year. What are some adjustments you’ve made with prices and expenses rising?

Sean Kitchen

Political Correspondent, The Keystone

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Labor leaders are calling out US Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s (R-Pa.) anti-union past while serving in the Pennsylvania House from 2012 to 2024.

The Lehigh Valley Republican is up for reelection this November, and in the statehouse, he signed on to at least 15 bills or resolutions that undermined public sector union rights or aimed to turn Pennsylvania into a right-to-work state.

Additionally, Mackenzie told Republican supporters at a 2013 Berks County Patriots event that he would roll back prevailing wage laws and turn Pennsylvania into a right-to-work state. This was at the time when state legislatures across the Midwest began rolling back union rights and passing right-to-work laws.

“ Ryan Mackenzie has constantly used his elected position to undermine workers’ rights. Whether it be safe workplace regulations like OSHA, whether it be the ability to join and form a union, whether it be passing right-to-work legislation,” Steve Catanese, president of Service Employees International Union Local 668, said in an interview.

After threatening to go on strike during the World Cup, Philadelphia hotel workers at the Warwick Hotel in Rittenhouse Square became the sixth Center City hotel to ratify a contract that includes a $30 minimum wage for non-tipped employees by Jan. 2028, per UNITE HERE Local 274.
With the state budget deadline looming next week, a group of mothers traveled to the Pennsylvania Capitol pushing for paid family leave and paid medical leave, per the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
US Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was one of 32 House Republicans to vote against a popular housing affordability bill that passed both chambers of Congress with little opposition, per PennLive.

(Sean Kitchen / The Keystone)

Thursday was supposed to be a day of celebration for State Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) after both chambers of Congress included a federal version of the Whole Home Repairs program in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

However, President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the bill signing ceremony as a ploy to force the US Senate to pass the SAVE Act, which needs 60 senators to end debate and proceed with the final vote.

The SAVE Act is a massive voter suppression effort that could disenfranchise millions of voters in the upcoming election.

“ We believe that there is immense support for this set of bills demonstrated by the immense support that’s given by all of these legislators, […] the thousands and thousands of people who advocated for these programs, and […] the millions of people that these bills would help,” Saval said.