When talk of the world’s first trillionaire takes center stage in our nation’s news cycles, you know there’s something wrong in our society. When the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes since 2020 while five billion people around the world have become poorer, it’s clear that there’s an imbalance in the economy. Even when workers use their most powerful — yet risky — tool to fight for fairness by withholding their labor in a strike, corporations often intentionally prolong the strike, starve them out, and cancel healthcare coverage to force them to accept an unfair contract settlement. Unfortunately, this can often perpetuate the ills of our society at large: corporate greed, unsafe jobs, and a culture where we are not respecting working people for their labor; the glue that makes our communities run.
In 2025, the Oregon legislature has a timely opportunity to modestly help level this imbalanced playing field by passing SB 916 — ending the current exclusion of unemployment insurance benefits for working Oregonians when they are on strike. Striking workers and their families should not be pushed into poverty for exercising their legally protected right to strike. This policy helps put money back into the local economy during a labor dispute, and helps ensure that negotiations continue in good faith rather than being dragged out by well-resourced employers.
Time and time again during contract negotiations, we see that workers’ hands are forced by their employer when making the difficult decision to go on strike. Sadly we shouldn’t be surprised by that given what’s happening in the broader economy with CEOs making on average 272 times more than their employees, C-suites raking in record profits, and the multi-billion dollar union-busting industry swooping in to intimidate workers just about every time they come together with their coworkers to make change and form a union at their workplace. SB 916 won’t fix it all, but this policy will show workers that the Oregon legislature has their backs when they are fighting for better patient care, the schools our children deserve, or for the dignity that every worker deserves. It will ensure that workers have a fair shot in negotiations, and that they’re able to pay their bills, afford housing and healthcare, and stay afloat while fighting for a fair contract.
Perhaps one of the most important statistics to highlight is that implementing this bill will have a negligible cost to the Unemployment Insurance system in Oregon — a cost of less than 1% of total UI expenditures — and a minimal impact on employers. Additionally, workers would have the same seven-day waiting period before being eligible for benefits under the bill. And from 2021 to 2024, the median duration of Oregon strikes has been just five days. In fact, nearly 60% of all strikes end within two days.
We believe passing this critical piece of legislation will encourage employers to engage more earnestly at the bargaining table. It could also reduce the frequency and duration of strikes, which has been the experience in other states that already have this policy on the books.
At a moment of such uncertainty, SB 916 presents the Oregon legislature with a real opportunity to stand up for workers during a time when workers rights are being attacked at the federal level. This is a straightforward and simple approach that would also continue our state’s long tradition of being a leader when it comes to workers’ rights and will allow us to put our state’s values into action. It’s past time to level the playing field.
Graham Trainor is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a federation of labor unions.
