The state legislature last week passed a bill that would allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits after 14 days on the picket line, in a measure supported by Democrats as a boost for working families.
Senate Bill 8 passed the Senate on a 24 – 11 vote with all Republicans opposed on May 28. The House followed suit two days later, sending the bill to the governor’s desk.
If the bill is signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont, Connecticut would join New York and New Jersey as states that offer unemployment benefits to workers who have been on strike for more than 14 days.
Sen. Julie Kushner, a Danbury Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, said Connecticut workers needed to be able to fight back when their jobs, health care, and retirement benefits were on the line.
“We want working families in Connecticut to know that we have their backs when they’re out of work, whether they’ve been laid off or are out of work because of a labor dispute. Workers rely on unemployment benefits to put food on the table for their kids,” Kushner said.
The bill proved popular with Democrats in the legislature, with nearly three-quarters of them co-sponsoring the bill. The bill was also popular with the public at its public hearing, with more than 110 pieces of written testimony submitted in favor of the bill.
Labor leaders including Stacey Zimmerman, the deputy director of the EIU CT State Council, submitted supportive testimony.
“Rather than negotiate in good faith, some employers make unreasonable demands to force employees to strike, attempting to ‘starve them out,’” Zimmerman said. “Some employers strategically weaponize the economic instability of their employees to suppress wages and working conditions.”
Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said workers were fed up with low wages, insufficient benefits, and an overall lack of respect from employers, even as those employers rake in record profits.
“Connecticut can create a more level playing field between workers and wealthy corporations by extending access to unemployment insurance (UI) to striking workers,” Hawthorne said. “The UI program was designed to support workers, alleviate individual hardship, and protect the economy. Making striking workers eligible for UI aligns with the program’s intent and creates benefits that far outweigh its negligible costs.”
Senate Bill 8 is not the first time the Connecticut legislature has sought to assist striking workers. The General Assembly passed a similar bill last year, but the proposal was vetoed by the governor.
During a press conference last week, Kirby Boyce, member of IAM Local 1746 (East Hartford Pratt & Whitney) and president of the Eastern Connecticut Area Labor Federation, speculated that a recently concluded Pratt & Whitney strike may have been avoided if last year’s legislation had been permitted to become law.
“We just ended a 23 day strike at Pratt, and I’m sure that if Senate Bill 8 was in place, the strike would not have taken place,” Boyce said. “Had this bill been passed last year instead of being vetoed by the governor, we would not have been on strike this year.”
