California will not give unemployment checks to striking workers, and Democratic governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday vetoed a bill that had been inspired by high-profile work stoppages in hollywood and the hotel industry.
Newsom says he supports workers and often benefits from campaign contributions from unions. But he noted that he vetoed this bill because the fund the state uses to pay unemployment aid will be nearly $20 billion in debt by the end of the year.
“Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this considerable debt”Newsom wrote in a veto message.
The fund the state uses to pay unemployment benefits is already more than $18 billion in debt. That’s because the fund ran out of money and had to borrow from the federal government during the pandemic, when Newsom ordered most businesses to close and caused a massive spike in unemployment. The fund was also hit by massive amounts of fraud that cost the state billions of dollars.
For their part, unions said unemployment benefits are good for the economy, allowing striking workers to continue spending money and supporting local businesses.
“That money will go to corner stores, to restaurants, to catering companies, to nail salons, to small businesses that are also fighting alongside the workers who are on strike,” said Sarah Flocks, legislative and strategic campaign director for the California Federation of Labor. to lawmakers during a public hearing earlier this month.
Source: AP
Source: Gestion
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