On Saturday, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have paid unemployment benefits to striking employees. The bill had received strong support from labor unions and his Democratic colleagues in the state legislature.
In vetoing the legislation, Newsom pointed out that the state’s unemployment trust fund is already close to $20 billion in debt.
“Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this substantial debt,” he wrote to clarify his veto.
In September, a Democratic-majority legislature passed the measure amid a number of high-profile strikes. Twelve days later, Hollywood writers terminated their nearly five-month strike, but Hollywood actors remain on the picket lines. Hotel employees in Southern California are also on strike.
The measure would have made workers out on strike for at least two weeks eligible for unemployment checks. Except for New York and New Jersey, most states do not offer unemployment benefits to striking workers.
