Legislative Alert: February 7, 2025

President's Message

Worker Improvements Needed in Unemployment System

New York State’s unemployment insurance trust fund has an approximate $6 billion deficit caused by the pandemic, dating back to 2020. The deficit was over $10 billion at one point, so the downward trend is a good sign, but New York’s workers are still getting hurt because of it.

Under normal circumstances, the maximum unemployment benefit in New York is scheduled to increase each year according to a formula that will top out at 50% of the average weekly wage (AWW) in 2026. The benefit remains indexed at that level moving forward. Unfortunately, due to federal restrictions, those increases were frozen after the 2019 increase and cannot restart while the trust fund is insolvent.

In real dollars, the current maximum benefit is $504 per week, far below the state’s minimum wage and far too insufficient for anyone to make ends meet. If the scheduled increase were allowed to have occurred, the current benefit would be 46% of the AWW, which is well over $800 per week.

At the same time, the federal government is requiring employers to pay additional unemployment contributions to pay the interest on federal loans needed to pay benefits and to eliminate the deficit. Governor Hochul has proposed the state take over this year’s interest payment of the deficit, a $165 million cost to taxpayers, for which businesses are otherwise responsible. The NYS AFL-CIO is reviewing this proposal and, as of now, has no objection to the idea; however, it is just as important that workers also get relief, and we are strongly advocating for worker improvements in the system.

Union members who exercise their federal right to strike continue to get additional penalties in the form of a longer waiting period to be eligible for benefits. We must remove this penalty and lower the three-week waiting period for workers on strike to one week, matching the waiting period for every other claimant.  

Also, we need to ensure education and higher education employees who are out of work between academic semesters, breaks, or school years are eligible to claim benefits. We also need to clarify that when the trust fund becomes solvent, the maximum benefit will be restored at the level it is scheduled to be in statute. Finally, a new dependent allowance should be added to help address the additional living expenses of workers with dependent children. 

Mario Cilento, President

Upcoming Meetings

LABOR LOBBYISTS MEETING 
Monday, February 10, 2025, 1 p.m. 
This event will be located at the Albany office of the NYS AFL-CIO, 
100 South Swan St. Albany, NY. 
This meeting is for labor representatives only.

NURSE ISSUES MEETING 
Monday, February 10, 2025, 2 p.m. 
This event will be located at the Albany office of the NYS AFL-CIO, 
100 South Swan St. Albany, NY. 
This meeting is for labor representatives only.

INFRASTRUCTURE MEETING 
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 1 p.m. 
This event will be located at the Albany office of the NYS AFL-CIO, 
100 South Swan St. Albany, NY. 
This meeting is for labor representatives only.

Please RSVP to Nagma Singh at [email protected] for the meetings listed above.