California workers on strike could be paid unemployment benefits under a bill lawmakers sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday.
The measure, SB799, would make striking workers eligible for unemployment payments after two weeks on strike.
“For me, it’s critical that for the worker and the economy to have security and, to have a seat at the table to be able to advocate for themselves without having the fear of losing their home or not being able to send their kids to school,” said Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Burbank, at a hearing Wednesday. “SB799 would provide a lifeline for California’s workforce while preserving the economy and the right to lawfully strike for better working conditions.”
California employers and employees pay federal and state taxes to fund unemployment benefits. Supporters of the measure argue those employees should be able to access the funds they have contributed to when they go on strike.
The California Chamber of Commerce, which represents business groups, opposes the bill. California shouldn’t conflate workers who choose to strike with those who are laid off, said Chamber lobbyist Robert Moutrie.
“Striking is a negotiating tactic whereby you choose a hardship and impose a hardship on the employer in the hopes of getting better terms,” Moutrie told lawmakers during a hearing on the bill Wednesday. “It is a tactic and that is, I think, a fundamental difference from being unemployed.”
Supporters acknowledged the stress on the fund, but argue paying unemployment to workers who have been on strike for more than two weeks would be relatively inexpensive. Roughly 1.3 million Californians accessed unemployment benefits last year, while roughly 50,000 were on strike for longer than two weeks, Assembly Member Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, told his colleagues before they passed the bill.
Opponents of the measure have noted that California’s unemployment insurance fund is under immense strain. Unemployment skyrocketed in California during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdowns, forcing the state to borrow money from the federal government to supplement its overburdened unemployment fund.
Lawmakers pass the measure as film and television writers enter their fifth month on strike, and actors approach their third.
Newsom will have until mid-October to sign or veto the measure. If he signs it, California would join New York and New Jersey as states that already allow striking workers to access unemployment benefits. Newsom has declined to weigh in on the measure, as he had most other bills lawmakers have sent him.
Lawmakers passed SB799 a day after they sent Newsom a bill that would allow legislative staff to unionize. Six previous efforts to pass such a bill failed in previous years, illustrating a notable contrast between how lawmakers treat their own staffers and those of private businesses, whom the Legislature has often tried to help unionize.
Reach Sophia Bollag: sophia.bollag@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @SophiaBollag
