On Wednesday, the Oregon House Labor Committee passed an amended version of Senate Bill 916, which would allow striking workers to access unemployment insurance after a 2-week waiting period (twice as long as other workers, but that's a compromise that was made to move the bill out of the Senate).
This remains the #1 labor priority in the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session, but the bill's passage in the House of Representatives next week is still not assured.
Powerful interests (business, media, and school district management especially) are fighting its passage, despite many compromises made. Striking workers often find themselves bent to management's will with economic threats and cutoffs of their health insurance instead of bargaining in good faith to resolve contract disagreements. If UI is available, this "starvation tool" to force a strike shutdown will be taken off the table. In the end, the bill would rebalance the playing field, making it likely that fewer strikes will even occur, because management will be more motivated to settle earlier given that this tool will no longer be in their toolbox.
Everyone should send a quick email to their representative, but it's particularly urgent if you live in the legislative districts of Rep. Shannon Isadore, Rep. Hai Pham, or Rep. Ken Helm. Please email them to let them know that you are a constituent and that you would appreciate their YES vote for SB 916 when it comes to the floor next week.
If you're not sure who your representative is, find it here.
Time is of the essence: please do this today! Some legislators are saying that they aren't hearing from voters who support the bill, but they ARE hearing from management and businesses who want to retain this unfair advantage to force workers into a bad deal.
Thanks for standing up for Oregon workers!