Washington’s Employment Security Department has paid nearly $506,000 in unemployment benefits to 138 striking workers since January 1. The state’s new benefit, which extends unemployment to striking union workers, took effect at the beginning of the year.

Striking Workers Eligible for Benefits

Striking workers at Hilton’s Embassy Suites in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood have recently applied for the Safety Net program. Barring an agreement, they expect the benefits to kick in within a few weeks. Workers on strike are eligible for up to six weeks of benefits, which become available following the second Sunday after a strike begins, plus a one-week waiting period.

Aspen Desmarais, a bartender at the hotel’s Zephyr Restaurant and a member of Unite Here Local 8, said the unemployment benefits allow striking workers to hold out for better contracts. April Sims, the president of the Washington State Labor Council, noted that employers can often weather work stoppages more easily than workers.

Original reporting: Clark County Today (Vancouver WA) — read the source article.