Striking Workers Could Soon Qualify For Unemployment Benefits

Many workers who go on strike could soon gain a new bit of leverage against their employers: unemployment benefits.

Lawmakers in several states are considering the novel approach of extending unemployment insurance to workers who hit the picket lines, saying it would help level the playing field with deep-pocketed companies that can starve their workforces in contract fights. Strikers do not qualify for such benefits in the vast majority of states.

That includes Washington, where progressive legislators are looking to change the law. Last week, the state’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would qualify strikers for unemployment benefits starting the second Sunday after a walkout begins, with payments capped at four weeks. The legislation is now up for debate in the state Senate.

State Rep. Beth Doglio, an Olympia Democrat and the lead sponsor for the House bill, called it “a very small step in the right direction.” She noted that roughly 400 Starbucks stores in the U.S. have unionized since 2021 but still don’t have collective bargaining agreements with the Seattle-based coffee chain. Many have gone on strike to pressure the company at the bargaining table.

“When you go into a strike, it’s a last resort,” Doglio said in an interview. “This just gives a little bit of assurance that they [workers] can continue to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads while their negotiators are at the table.”

Business groups have come out in opposition to the proposal, arguing that it would raise insurance costs for employers and give workers unfair leverage in bargaining. Five of Washington’s House Democrats joined Republicans in voting against it. If the legislation makes it to the desk of Democratic Gov.