Oregon bill extending unemployment to striking workers advances

• Oregon Senate Bill 916 would grant unemployment benefits to striking workers after two weeks.
• If passed, Oregon would be the first state to allow striking public employees to receive unemployment benefits.
• Supporters say the bill would "help level the playing field" between workers and corporations.

Two Democrats cited concerns about added costs to local governments already facing financial uncertainty before joining Republicans in voting against a bill that would make Oregon the first state in the country to extend unemployment to striking public employees.

Senate Bill 916 passed 16-12 after a lengthy discussion Thursday on the Senate floor to move the bill to the House of Representatives.

The bill would allow all striking workers to qualify for unemployment benefits after two weeks. They would have to pay back any unemployment benefits if they later received back pay for the time they were on strike.

New Jersey and New York are the only states that currently allow striking workers to collect unemployment. The legislation also would extend unemployment to striking public employees in Oregon.

The bill was introduced at the request of the AFL-CIO, a labor federation representing more than 300,000 workers at 288 unions. It received three public hearings, two informational meetings and hundreds of pieces of written testimony.

Republican efforts to extend waiting period, add other provisions, fail

Republicans submitted a “minority report” proposing an alternate version of the bill. Their proposal would have implemented a four-week waiting period, required paying back benefits with interest if a worker received back pay and prohibited striking public employees from receiving benefits.

The minority report also would have required unions to maintain “adequate strike funds” to pay striking workers before members could access state benefits.

Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles, and other Republicans said the proposal would incentivize more frequent strikes.

Bonham said Republicans believed the minority report protected “the sanctity of this trusted institution” and the consideration of SB 916 contradicted messaging from Democrats and labor unions urging Republicans “to get back to work” during the longest legislative walkout in history in 2023.

“I was told that Oregonians who do not show up to work, don’t get paid,” he said.

The motion to adopt the Republicans’ proposal failed along party lines, 10-18.

Supporters contend SB 916 would 'help level the playing field'

“We cannot expect Oregonians working in unsafe conditions for inadequate pay to do nothing,” said Sen. Kathleen Taylor. D-Portland, chief sponsor of the bill. “We have to ensure they can keep food on the table while they fight for change.”

Taylor provided a flow chart of public employee unions’ bargaining process which she said showed 210 days of negotiations are required by before they can strike.

The Legislative Fiscal Office estimated the legislation would have minimal impact on the state budget, based on historical strike data of 1,196 employees going on strike for an average of 8.6 weeks per strike in the last 10 years.

The office estimated benefits would total an additional $2.1 million in the 2025-27 biennium. As of December 2024, Oregon's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund had grown to $6.4 billion.

Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, also spoke in support of the bill, saying Oregon businesses and the state's economy and communities thrive when workers do.

“The playing field is nowhere close to level between corporations and workers, and might I add non-profit hospitals,” Meek said. “That’s why I’m in support of this bill. To help level the playing field so that workers are not forced into a contract simply because they cannot afford to pay rent, to buy their groceries or pay for child care when they are out on strike.”

Meek pointed to a presentation from the Oregon Employment Department during an informational hearing on the bill, which showed unemployment insurance benefits provide an average of $196 to $836 in weekly benefits.

“No one is getting rich going on strike,” he said.

Unemployment bill would add to instability, opponents argue

Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, who served on the Hillsboro School Board, said she had long been a champion of public employees and teachers in the state. But she questioned the legislation's potential impact on the financial stability of cities, counties and schools.

Sollman also said actions by the Trump administration put into question the stability and survival funds critical for Oregon, which relies on about 32% of the state budget coming from the federal government.

“Now is not the time to be adding more uncertainty and more expenses, which Senate Bill 916 would certainly do,” she said.

Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, expressed similar concerns.

Golden said some Oregon cities and counties are “teetering” on the edge of fiscal failure and the bill could mean another financial strain of unknown size if their unionized employees strike for more than two weeks. He addressed union members in the gallery, asking them not to task lawmakers with making Oregon a fairer economy "on the backs of our municipalities."

“No other state in the country allows public employees to receive unemployment benefits while on strike. Oregon would be the first. It makes sense to me that no other state has done this because all of them rely on municipal partners too,” Golden said. “I would just ask if we want to be the first. I don’t.”

Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said existing labor rules and laws protect workers in Oregon and opposition to the bill did not represent opposing workers.

The bill rewarded workers voluntarily choosing not to go to work, Starr added.

“That’s not what unemployment insurance is about,” he said.

Bonham said after the bill passed that the legislation would reward political allies at the expense of small businesses, health care facilities and schools.

The Oregon AFL-CIO applauded the bill’s passage.

“This bill represents real progress for working people, those who’ve too often been left behind by policies that favor the wealthy and powerful,” Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor said in a statement.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo