I got this email from the OSEA's legislative liaison:
I know it has been awhile since your email, but SB 470 has had many twist and turns in the past few weeks. I can finally report that the legislature will not agree to change the UI for classified during school closures such as the summer months. The Senate was our first disappointment when we could not get enough votes from Senators to pass the SB 470 to the senate floor as originally written. Then we were able to get an amendment to the bill passed that UI would only be available during the summer months for education employees who left work for good cause and that was passed by the Senate. . On the house side we worked hard to get all 12 month employees covered during the summer months (looking for anything to crack the UI issue wide open); Last week the good cause argument and the 12 month move were crippled when the Employment Department heard back from the federal government that both ideas would cause the feds to stop sending administrative funding to Oregon. Why? Because we cannot single out any positions or hours/days worked to provide UI during the summer months. It must be all or nothing. In other words legislation would have to pass here in Oregon that makes all classified education employees eligible for UI during school closures.
OSEA has been trying everything to move our elected representatives on this issue for many years. It appears that we will need to move the question to the voters by sponsoring a Ballot Measure. We are not going to give up. Thank you for your email.
I doubt it would pass a vote. What they should do is go to the courts.
It's sex discrimination because almost all of these classified jobs are female. Meanwhile, loggers, construction workers, and fishermen can get UI when they are laid off seasonally.
Of course, these workers are almost always men.
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