Re: “Employees on strike in WA mustn’t get unemployment advantages” [Feb. 6, Opinion]:
Washington does have first rate unemployment advantages — when you will get them. Exterior pandemic years, from 2016 to 2022, unemployed Washingtonians had solely a mean 26% probability of receiving advantages, placing Washington at or under the nationwide common.
With the percentages of receiving advantages in opposition to them, many unemployed staff don’t apply. For individuals who do apply, there’s a 48% probability Washington will deny the declare. That’s twice the denial charge of different high-wage states like California (18.4%), and greater than 3 times the speed of New York (13.7%) or Massachusetts (13%).
Washington employers have far an excessive amount of say — earlier than the Legislature and within the office — about who receives unemployment advantages. By championing strict legal guidelines limiting this fundamental help for the unemployed, employers have succeeded in conserving their taxes low. A small business on this state additionally helps employers battle worker advantages by submitting appeals.
Unemployment compensation helps unemployed staff and their communities. Home Invoice 1893 permits staff thrown out of labor throughout management-labor disputes to scrape by at roughly half regular pay. HB 1893 simply provides employers one much less ace to play in opposition to staff who have already got the percentages stacked in opposition to them.
Anne Paxton, lawyer and coverage director, Unemployment Legislation Challenge, Seattle
