As a growing number of states consider legislation to extend unemployment insurance (UI) to striking workers, a new EPI report finds that such policies cost little while benefiting workers and state economies.
Only two states—New Jersey and New York—currently make striking workers eligible for UI. But lawmakers in 13 states have previously introduced or are actively considering such policies, including in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington. Extending employment insurance to strikers would cost less than 1% of total UI expenditures in each state that has considered such legislation, according to the report’s estimates.
Making strikers eligible for UI would mitigate some of the immediate economic risk to workers and their families, and encourage fair negotiations at the bargaining table since employers can’t rely on threats to starve workers out by forcing a strike. And these policies don’t only impact striking workers, they also help stabilize the economy by keeping dollars flowing to communities where a strike is taking place.
“When workers make the difficult decision to strike, they should be able to exercise their right to do so without fear of losing their livelihood. The need for states to protect their workers’ rights is particularly urgent in the face of the Trump administration’s and corporations’ brazen attacks on labor rights. Lawmakers should take a low-cost step toward protecting workers’ collective bargaining rights by making striking workers eligible to receive unemployment insurance,” said Daniel Perez, EPI state economic analyst and author of the report.