Unemployment for Striking Workers Bill Revived

01.31.2025
Issues & Policies

State Senate Democrat leaders have revived legislation providing unemployment benefits for striking workers, making the issue a priority for the 2025 General Assembly session.

Last year, Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed a controversial bill that created a $3 million, taxpayer-funded “Connecticut families and workers account” administered by the state Comptroller.

Originally drafted as a review of General Fund appropriations, the bill—approved in the final minutes of the 2024 session—was amended to incorporate the intent of another measure that allowed striking workers to claim unemployment benefits.

The House did not act on the original bill, which the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee approved on a 8-4 party line vote despite broad criticism.

The 2025 version—SB 8—also includes a provision banning productivity quotas at warehouses that employ more than 100 employees.

That provision is a revival of legislation that has failed in previous legislative sessions.

Trust Fund Solvency

While SB 8 still lacks detailed language, it likely will model the bill that passed the Labor Committee last year and died in the House.

That bill allowed striking workers to collect unemployment, upending established policy that reserves benefits for those who become unemployed through no fault of their own and “are available for and seeking work.”

Connecticut’s unemployment system—which has undergone a series of recent reforms designed to restore its solvency—is funded exclusively by employers.

CBIA’s Paul Amarone noted that the current balance of the Unemployment Trust Fund is significantly below U.S. Department of Labor recommended solvency levels.

“Paying unemployment compensation to individuals whose unemployment is due to a labor dispute increases the risk that the trust fund will become insolvent,” he said.

“That then leads to costly Federal Unemployment Tax Act hikes on employers, further increasing the cost of doing business in Connecticut.”

Two years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation in that state granting unemployment benefits to striking workers, citing the vulnerability of the state’s UI trust fund.

‘Unwelcome Mat’

At a Jan. 15 press conference, Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) called the unemployment benefits issue “a matter of labor justice, of economic justice.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) said the bill “essentially tells companies to not do business in Connecticut. The ‘unwelcome’ mat is out.”

After speaking at CBIA’s Jan. 15 Economic Summit + Outlook, Lamont told reporters his position on the issue had not changed, adding he would evaluate all legislative proposals.

CBIA 2024 Survey of Connecticut businesses
Source: CBIA/Marcum 2024 Survey of Connecticut Businesses.

The Labor Committee will also take up separate bills addressing striking workers’ unemployment benefits and warehouse productivity quotas.

HB 5760, introduced by committee member Rep. Nick Gauthier (D-Waterford), allows “workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits for the duration of any labor dispute.”

Looney filed SB 832, which amends current state law by restricting warehouse productivity goals. 

“All of these proposals miss the mark for creating a more friendly, competitive business environment and making it more affordable to do business in Connecticut,” Amarone noted.


For more information, contact CBIA’s Paul Amarone (860.244.1978).

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