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H 7440Labor Relations

Labor and Labor Relations - Employment Security - Benefits

This bill allows workers participating in strikes or industrial controversies to collect unemployment insurance benefits.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 30, 2026Committee House Labor

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends Rhode Island's employment security laws regarding labor disputes. Under current law, workers are generally disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if they are out of work due to a strike or industrial controversy. This bill removes that disqualification, mandating that individuals involved in strikes shall be entitled to unemployment benefits. Additionally, it simplifies the rules for lockouts, ensuring that workers are eligible for benefits if an employer withholds employment during negotiations, removing previous exceptions related to multi-employer bargaining groups or contract extension offers.

For younger readers

Usually, when workers go on "strike"—which means they stop working to protest for better pay or rules—they are not allowed to get unemployment money from the state. This bill changes the rules so that workers who are on strike can get that money to help them buy food and pay bills while they are protesting. It also says that if a boss locks the doors and won't let workers work during an argument over jobs, those workers will definitely get paid by the state, too.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Union membersBusiness ownersDepartment of Labor and TrainingEmployersTaxpayers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There is a potential risk regarding federal preemption under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Employers may argue that this legislation interferes with the "free play of economic forces" intended by Congress in labor negotiations (Machinists preemption). The Supreme Court has previously scrutinized state laws that alter the balance of power in labor disputes, suggesting that state interference in the economic weapons available to unions and management could be unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Strengthens the social safety net by ensuring that workers exercising their right to strike do not face immediate financial destitution or food insecurity.
  • Levels the playing field between labor and management by mitigating the economic leverage employers hold over workers who cannot afford to go without a paycheck during negotiations.
  • Simplifies the claims process for workers involved in lockouts or disputes, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and ensuring faster access to necessary funds.
  • Could place a significant financial strain on the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, potentially risking the solvency of the fund for other vulnerable workers who lose jobs involuntarily.
  • Might inadvertently harm small businesses that operate on thin margins, potentially leading to closures and permanent job losses if they cannot sustain prolonged strikes subsidized by the state.
  • May draw political backlash that could jeopardize public support for other essential social welfare programs or labor reforms.
For Conservatives
  • Simplifies the regulatory code by removing complex exceptions and conditions regarding multi-employer groups and contract extensions, reducing administrative ambiguity.
  • Protects individual workers from being financially crushed by large, multi-employer conglomerates during lockouts, aligning with populist conservative concerns for the working class against corporate elites.
  • May accelerate market efficiency by encouraging businesses to automate roles more aggressively to avoid the costs and risks associated with labor instability.
  • Violates the fundamental insurance principle that unemployment benefits are intended for those who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, not for those who voluntarily choose to stop working.
  • Forces business owners to subsidize the very strikes that are damaging their operations, as unemployment funds are derived from taxes paid by employers.
  • Disrupts the free market balance of labor negotiations by using government power to artificially support one side, potentially leading to longer strikes and higher consumer prices.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 3 additions · 13 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 28-44-16 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-44 entitled "Employment Security — Benefits" is hereby amended to read as follows: 28-44-16. Labor disputes.

(a) An individual shall not be entitled to benefits if he or she became unemployed because of a strike or other industrial controversy in the establishment in which he or she was employed. This section shall not apply if it is shown to the satisfaction of the director that the claimant is not a member of the organization or group responsible for the labor dispute and is not participating in or financing or in any way directly interested in the labor dispute.

(b) Lockouts. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), an An individual shall be entitled to benefits if his or her unemployment is the result of his or her employer’s withholding of employment for the purpose of resisting collective bargaining demands or gaining collective bargaining concessions, unless:.

(1) The claimant’s employer is a member of a multi-employer collective bargaining group and the lockout is in response to a strike at another member of that multi-employer collective bargaining group; or

(2) The claimant’s employer establishes to the satisfaction of the director that it has offered to the labor organization representing the claimant an extension of then existing wages, hours, and working conditions, including enforceable no strike and no lockout prohibitions, for up to three (3) days and the lockout is in response to the labor organization’s refusal to execute the extension.

(c) If the unemployment continues more than one week following the conclusion of a labor dispute, an individual who is otherwise eligible under the terms of this chapter shall be entitled to benefits.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.