Seattle (AP) – The legislators in Oregon and Washington consider whether striking workers according to recent strikes from Boeing factory workers, nurses and teachers in the northwest of Pacific, which had highlighted a recent era of American work activism, should receive unemployment benefits.
Oregon’s measure would make it the first state that delivers payment for public employees – who are not allowed to go on strike in most states, let alone receive benefits for this. Washington would pay for at least two weeks in the line for up to 12 weeks.
“The conclusion is that this contributes to eliminating the field,” said the democratic state Senator Marcus Riccelli, who sponsored Washington. “Without a social security net during a strike, the workers are faced with enormous pressure to end the strike quickly or to never go on strike.”
However, the legislative templates raise questions about how they would influence employers, especially with regard to economic uncertainties associated with the federal financing cuts and tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
“It is inappropriate to avoid the negotiating table in such a way that employers pay the costs of a striking worker,” said Lindsey Hueer, director of government matters at the Washington Association, senators during a hearing from the committee in February. “Unemployment insurance should be a security network for employees to whom no work can return.”
So far, only two states, New York and New Jersey, offer striking workers. The Senate Democrats in Connecticut have revived laws that the striking employees would provide financial aid after the governor had lodged a similar measure last year.
Advantages of invoices progress are oppositional
The measures in Washington and Oregon have been adopted by the State Senate and are now in the house. Washington Bill is exposed to its hearing of the final committee on Friday and Monday.
The Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit, pro-Laborer Think Tank in Washington, DC, has examined the effects of the granting of unemployment benefits for striking workers and found that it is equally good for employees and employers, said Daniel Perez, state economic analyst for the organization.
First, he said, long strikes are extremely occasional. More than half of the US work strikes end within two days – employees would not receive a payment in these cases – and only 14% last more than two weeks. Second, the policy costs very little – less than 1% of the expenditure for unemployment insurance in every state that has taken into account legislation.
Bryan Corliss, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering employee in Aerospace Union, told The Associated Press that the large winners would be low-wage workers.
“If low -wage workers had financial stability to strike more than a day or two without risk, we believe that this would encourage companies to actually get to the table and to complete a deal,” he said.
During a hearing at the Washington House Labor Committee last week, several Republican legislators tried to change the legislative template to search for striking employees for other jobs or to shorten the time from 12 weeks to four. The democratic majority shot these ideas.
Republican MP Suzanne Schmidt said the bill could be good for employees, but it would violate employers.
“We saw cases with the Boeing strike last year for the machine operators,” she said. “At the same time we had 32,000 people in the strike and if this had been involved, it would have cost millions of dollars to cover these workers. Boeing actually lost billions that the workers had on strike for several months.”
The draft law in Oregon, which would also be entitled to strike workers for unemployment benefits after two weeks, triggered a similar debate, both among democratic and among the Republican legislators and voters, with hundreds of people submitting in writing.
The state has experienced two major strikes in recent years: thousands of nurses and dozens of doctors in the eight hospitals of Providence were strike in Oregon hospitals at the beginning of this year, while a 2023 strike of Portland Public School teachers were closed for over three weeks for over three weeks.
The Oregon Senate largely passed the measure according to party borders, two Democrats voted against it.
In the Senate, Democratic Senator said private employers paid private employers through a salary account tax in the unemployment fund of the state unemployment fund, but only a few public employers, which means that they reimburse the fund for all payments to their employees.
The democratic Senator Chris Gorsek, who supported the legislation, argued that public employers would no longer cost more than they have already budgeted for salaries, since the employees are not paid if they are on strike. In addition, those who receive unemployment benefits receive a maximum of 65% of their weekly salary, and according to a document, which was presented to the officials of the labor department, are caused by a document.
“The unemployment insurance is a partial sentence, so unemployment insurance is not an additional costs for the employer in itself,” said Gorsek. “In fact, the only way to deliver the Senate account 916 would deliver additional costs for what has already been budgeted by the employer if the employer has decided to commission replacement workers.”
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Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to the Associated Press writer.
