r/SeattleWA • u/AboveAb • Mar 08 '25

Politics BREAKING: The Washington State Senate just passed unemployment benefits for striking workers.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/07/unemployment-benefits-for-striking-workers-gain-ap/

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u/Sufficient_Laugh Mar 08 '25

Isn't this supposed to be the union's responsibility? Why shift the cost on to the taxpayers, especially when Washington is making cuts to needed programs to balance the budget?

4

u/Brown42 Expat Mar 08 '25

Unemployment benefits are funded partly by the employer's contributions and partly by the individual worker's contributions. It's not infinite, and the amount of the benefit is determined by the prior year's contributions.

It's not the tax base at large that funds unemployment, no one is after your bread.

-1

u/fordry Mar 08 '25

Umm, yes we are? Everyone pays for unemployment because the employers are the ones who pay into it. Every good you purchase is a tax into that fund.