Lawmakers across the country are increasingly recognizing that making striking workers eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) is good for workers and good for the economy, posits a new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Striking workers in most states are disqualified from receiving UI, which opens the door for employers to undermine union negotiations by engaging in bad-faith tactics.
Only two states—New Jersey and New York—currently extend UI to striking workers. Lawmakers in 13 additional states have previously introduced or are actively considering such policies. California will pay UI to locked-out workers, but Gov. Newsom vetoed a law passed by the legislature in 2024 that would pay UI to workers on strike after a 14-day waiting period.
EPI estimates that the cost of extending employment insurance to strikers would represent between 0.04% to 0.96% of a given state’s total UI expenditures—an almost negligible share. The study shows that these policies impact striking workers and help stabilize the economy by keeping dollars flowing to communities where a
strike is taking place.
While opponents have raised concerns that such policies will encourage more strikes, providing UI protections to striking workers may reduce the number of strikes. Most importantly, paying UI to striking workers would help maintain workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain amid ongoing legal and political attacks on labor standards.