California’s Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, vetoed a bill Saturday that would have allowed workers who left their jobs to strike amid labor negotiations to receive unemployment benefits.
The law was introduced during a five-month Hollywood writers’ strike that affected the entertainment industry.
The strike ended last week after members of the Writers Guild of America union board approved a contract agreement with the studio. Hollywood actors and California hotel workers continue their respective labor strikes.
Many of these striking workers have gone months without pay.
If the bill were to become law, workers who strike for at least two weeks would be allowed to receive unemployment checks from the state, which could be as much as $450 a week. Employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own are usually the only ones eligible for these benefits.
Newsom, who often benefits from campaign contributions from labor unions, said in a statement announcing his opposition to the bill that he supports workers involved in labor strikes but that the funds the government uses to provide unemployment benefits are expected to reach nearly $20 billion in debt by the end of the year.
Newsom waits to sign legislation raising the minimum wage for California fast food workers to $20 an hour at SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
“Now is not the time to increase costs or take on this huge debt,” he wrote.
The fund the state uses to pay unemployment insurance (UI) benefits is already more than $18 billion in debt after it ran out of money and had to borrow from the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic when Newsom ordered most businesses to close, causing a drastic jump in unemployment.
The amount of massive fraud that cost the country billions of dollars also affected the source of funds.
Actors, writers and cosplayers join attractive SAG-AFTRA and WGA members in a picket line in front of FOX Studios on September 26, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images
“California employers fund UI benefits through contributions to the state UI Trust Fund on behalf of each employee,” Newsom said. “The UI funding structure has not been updated since 1984, which has made the UI Trust Fund vulnerable to insolvency.”
“Any expansion of eligibility for UI benefits could increase California’s outstanding federal UI debt projected to nearly $20 billion by the end of the year and could affect California Benefit Cost Ratio supplemental exemption applications, significantly increasing taxes on employers,” he continued.
“In addition, the state is responsible for interest payments on federal UI loans and has so far paid $362.7 million in interest with another $302 million due this month.”
Members of the Hollywood actors’ SAG-AFTRA union walk with screenwriters outside Paramount Studios on Day 2 of the actors’ strike on July 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.Getty Images
The labor union argued that the number of workers on strike for more than two weeks was so low that allowing them to receive unemployment would not have a significant impact on the state’s unemployment fund, according to The Associated Press.
The bill’s author, Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, said in an analysis of the law that only two of the 56 strikes in California over the past decade have lasted more than two weeks.
Unemployment benefits in the state are also on the rise, and the California Legislative Analyst’s Office has predicted benefit payments will exceed tax collections by $1.1 billion this year.
“I deeply appreciate and respect workers who are fighting for their rights and coming together in collective action,” Newsom said in a statement.
“I look forward to building on the progress we’ve made over the past five years to improve conditions for all workers in California.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
