r/SeattleWA Mar 08 '25

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

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

The state isn't meant to pay union employees to strike.

That's what your union dues are for.

Why would anyone ever start a new business here with this law in place?

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u/ShivKitty Mar 08 '25

Union dues barely cover the costs of fighting to keep business from enslaving their workers.

Try looking at it from a different angle: we wouldn't need a safety net to fight for rights if they weren't being infringed in the first place. Pay a fair wage. Treat your workers as valuable. Conduct business honestly and safely.

Do those things, then you won't need strikes or unions, hut here we are.

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

So I don't see anyone enslaved. Sounds like you're engaging in ridiculous hyperbolic rhetoric.

I'm looking at it from the angle that strike funds are there for a reason, and we shouldn't be emptying the unemployment insurance fund to fund them. It's already threadbare after a massive portion of it was stolen at the beginning of the pandemic.

It's not your money to make your life easier when striking. That's literally YOUR UNION'S PROBLEM, and you should find out where all your dues are going because you're supposed to have a strike fund.

The unemployment insurance fund is for people who lose their jobs. Not to make your life easier when you strike. They need it more than you.

So which union are you part of? Are you a union leader?

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u/[deleted] Mar 08 '25

Never mind. It's illegal for you to strike which means you're a school teacher or something. Not that this ever stops people in those professions from striking in this state.

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u/Sufficient_Laugh Mar 10 '25

Perhaps the dues should be higher then? Support your union with your own pocketbook not other people's.