Striking Workers Should Qualify for Unemployment Benefits
From nurses to autoworkers to screenwriters and hotel housekeepers, workers across the country are going on strike in numbers not seen since the 1970s. More than 450,000 U.S. workers have participated in strikes so far in 2023, according to Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker.
While each dispute has its own issues at stake, a common thread is the demand for a fair deal. Wages have barely budged, despite decades of rising productivity, ballooning corporate profits, and skyrocketing CEO pay.
Workers are winning notable gains through strikes and the threat of strikes, with benefits that extend to non-union workers and broader communities. Yet workers and their families must often make considerable economic sacrifices to exercise their right to collective action.
Workers who go out on strike lose a steady paycheck. While a union strike fund may provide some support, as a strike continues, workers risk missing rent payments, losing their health coverage, or being unable to afford essentials like groceries and utilities. In short, strikers face the same economic threats as workers who are unemployed.
But in most states, striking workers are not eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The exceptions are New York and New Jersey, which provide UI benefits after a strike has lasted for 14 days. Representatives Adam Schiff, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Donald Norcross have introduced a bill to make UI benefits available to striking workers nationwide.
“Although unemployment benefits would fall far short of replenishing a striking worker’s paycheck the support would be a lifeline for workers forced to choose between feeding their families and standing up for fair treatment on the job.”
The Empowering Striking Workers Act would ensure that workers exercising their legal right to strike, as well as workers who are laid off as a result of a strike or lockout, are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits after 14 days. Though unemployment benefits would fall far short of replenishing a striking worker’s paycheck – on average, UI benefits replaced just 43% of a typical workers’ prior weekly wage in 2022 – the support would be a lifeline for workers otherwise forced to choose between feeding their families and standing up for fair treatment on the job.
Empowering workers has always been among the central goals of the unemployment insurance system. By guaranteeing workers economic support when they are out of a job, a strong UI system prevents jobless workers from accepting positions that are unsafe, unsuitable, or a poor match for their skills and abilities, which can weaken workers’ earning potential for years. When workers are forced to accept unsuitable jobs, it drives down wages and depresses labor standards across the board.
Providing a degree of economic security to unemployed and striking workers helps to level a field that has tilted in favor of employers and big business for far too long. As bill sponsor Rep. Schiff points out, “The corporate executives who are sitting on one side of the negotiating table get paid during a strike, and workers should too; otherwise management can simply wait them out.”
The unprecedented public investment in unemployment insurance during the pandemic kept millions of families out of poverty and helped fuel one of the fastest economic recoveries on record. This strong economy contributed to the hot labor market that is giving so many workers the leverage to go on strike today. Extending unemployment benefits to striking workers nationwide is the next step towards rebalancing our economy so it works for everyone.
By: Amy M. Traub, (she/her)
Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst, National Employment Law Project
