Oregon bill to give striking workers unemployment pay passes Senate

[Omaha Steve]

The pioneering bill squeaked through one chamber of the Legislature in Salem, but there were some Democratic dissenters.

By Dirk VanderHart (OPB)
March 20, 2025 5:08 p.m.

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/03/20/oregon-bill-unemployment-pay-passes-senate/

Striking workers in Oregon are a step closer to being eligible for weekly unemployment checks, after a tight vote in the state Senate on Thursday.

Senate Bill 916 passed by the bare minimum 16 votes in the 30-member chamber, with two Democrats bucking the rest of their party over concerns the policy could harm cash-strapped cities and counties.

The razor thin-vote followed more than an hour of debate, in which most Democrats insisted unemployment pay would be comparatively rare, but give striking workers the stability to hold out for a fair contract.

“They make it so that every day we have clean water, safe roads, safe everything,” Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Portland, said of union workers. “We owe them the respect of allowing this provision.”

FULL story at link above.