SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, enacted a landmark bill on Tuesday that extends unemployment benefits to include striking workers, making them eligible for financial assistance. This move follows the footsteps of Washington state, inspired by recent strikes in industries such as Boeing, healthcare, and education within the Pacific Northwest.
Oregon is pioneering in offering unemployment pay to public employees who participate in strikes—an action prohibited in many other states, where even receiving such benefits is not an option. According to the new law, workers on strike will be eligible to receive unemployment benefits after two weeks, with a maximum duration of 10 weeks for these benefits.
Currently, only New York, New Jersey, and Washington state permit unemployment benefits for striking workers. Washington, which adopted this policy in April, offers unemployment pay to striking private-sector employees for up to six weeks, beginning after a fortnight of striking.
Conversely, Democratic Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut vetoed a bill on Monday designed to financially support striking workers, repeating his action on a similar proposed law the previous year.
The process of passing Oregon’s bill was fraught with complexity. Initially approved by the state Senate in March, and then by the state House earlier this month, the bill faced hurdles when the Senate majority disagreed with amendments made by the House. This led to the formation of a conference committee to iron out the discrepancies, ultimately reaching a compromise on capping benefits at 10 weeks.
The bill incited extensive debate not only among lawmakers but also the public, resulting in the submission of over a thousand written testimonies. Proponents of the bill argue that it levels the negotiating field between employees and affluent corporations that might otherwise wait for union funds to deplete, coercing workers under financial strain to return to work under unfavorable conditions.
Detractors fear this legislation may encourage more strikes and negatively impact employers, particularly in the public sector, such as school districts. While private sector employers contribute to the state’s unemployment insurance fund via a payroll tax, many public sector employers do not, implying they would need to reimburse the fund for any payouts made to their striking employees.
In response to these concerns, the new law requires that school districts deduct the unemployment benefits amounts from the future salaries of affected employees. Contrary to fears, some argue the law doesn’t financially overburden public employers since these workers do not receive their regular pay during strikes. Additionally, those on unemployment benefits receive up to 65% of their normal wages with a cap on maximum payouts, as expert documents presented to lawmakers from the employment department indicated.
Oregon has recently experienced two significant strikes: thousands of healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors at Providence’s hospitals in Oregon, held a six-week strike earlier this year, and a 2023 teacher walkout shut down Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, for over three weeks.