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S 2170Labor Relations

Labor and Labor Relations - Employment Security - Benefits

This bill allows workers who are on strike or involved in a labor dispute to collect unemployment insurance benefits.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 16, 2026Committee Senate Labor & Gaming

Plain-English Summary

This legislation modifies the eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits in Rhode Island regarding labor disputes. Currently, workers are generally disqualified from receiving benefits if their unemployment is caused by a strike. This bill amends the law to state that individuals shall be entitled to unemployment benefits if they are unemployed due to a strike or industrial controversy. It also removes specific exceptions and conditions related to lockouts and multi-employer bargaining groups, effectively allowing workers involved in these labor disputes to access the state's unemployment insurance safety net.

For younger readers

Imagine you have a job, but you and your coworkers decide to stop working for a while to ask your boss for better pay or safer rules. This is called a strike. Usually, when people choose to stop working like this, the government does not give them the money usually saved for people who lose their jobs (unemployment money). This new law changes that rule. It says that even if workers are on strike, the government will still give them unemployment money to help them buy food and pay bills while they are trying to fix things at work.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Labor UnionsBusiness OwnersDepartment of Labor and TrainingStriking WorkersTaxpayers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Strengthens the power of labor unions by removing the financial penalty of striking, allowing workers to negotiate for better wages and working conditions without fear of immediate destitution.
  • Ensures that workers practicing their right to strike have access to a basic social safety net, preventing them and their families from falling into poverty during industrial controversies.
  • Correction of a systemic imbalance where employers previously held disproportionate leverage over employees by relying on the workers' inability to survive without a paycheck during disputes.
  • Could deplete the unemployment insurance trust fund, potentially jeopardizing the availability of funds for low-income workers who are laid off involuntarily through no fault of their own.
  • Might inadvertently harm small local businesses that cannot sustain a strike subsidized by the state, potentially leading to closures and a net loss of jobs in the community.
  • May face legal challenges or political backlash that could threaten other existing labor protections if the public perceives the system as being abused.
For Conservatives
  • Simplifies the regulatory code by removing complex subsections and exceptions regarding multi-employer bargaining groups and extension offers, making the law easier to interpret.
  • Could potentially shorten the duration of strikes and lockouts by forcing businesses to resolve disputes more quickly to avoid the associated unemployment tax burdens.
  • Ensures that individual workers are not penalized for the actions of large multi-employer collective bargaining groups, offering a form of protection for the individual against large organizational disputes.
  • Fundamentally undermines the purpose of unemployment insurance, which is intended for involuntary job loss, by redistributing taxpayer funds to individuals who voluntarily choose not to work.
  • Forces business owners to subsidize strikes against their own companies through higher unemployment tax rates, effectively weaponizing the government against private enterprise.
  • Disrupts the free market balance of labor negotiations by government intervention, potentially encouraging more frequent and longer strikes that harm the state's economy.

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.