California Eyes Relief for Striking Workers, Starting Next Year

California legislators are making a last-minute pitch to extend unemployment benefits to striking workers by narrowing their bill so that it would not take effect until next year, offering little immediate relief to those on picket lines amid a summer of labor unrest.

The bill (S.B. 799) would allow striking workers to draw unemployment benefits after two weeks off the job. State law currently excludes workers from unemployment insurance if they left work due to a strike, though workers can claim benefits during a lockout—a work stoppage caused by their employer.

A similar proposal failed in the California ...