Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2025

This bill would let workers involved in a strike or lockout get unemployment benefits in more situations. It treats people who can’t work because of a labor dispute as if they’re unemployed, so they can receive payments during the dispute. It also creates an exception to the usual rule that you must be “available for work” to receive benefits, recognizing that the labor dispute is the reason you’re not working.

Benefits could start on the earliest of four points: 14 days after a strike begins, the day a lockout begins, the day the employer hires permanent replacement workers, or the day the strike or lockout ends and the worker becomes unemployed.

• Who is affected: Workers who can’t work due to a strike, lockout, or related labor dispute, including those indirectly affected.
• What changes: They can receive unemployment benefits during the dispute, with an exception to the normal “available for work” requirement.
• When benefits can start: The earliest of 14 days into a strike, the start of a lockout, when permanent replacements are hired, or after the dispute ends if the worker is then unemployed.