Strike benefits
Our Sept. 15 update reports approval of $80 per day, up to $400 per week, for workers who are striking and attend a picket line. These are the announced amounts before any personal tax obligation. [3]
Updated
The strike was called off September 28.
Report to work as scheduled. Our tentative agreement is now before members for ratification.
The September 2026 guidance below is retained as history. It is not a current instruction to picket or apply for strike benefits.
History: September 2026 strike preparation and guidance
Pay, benefits and household planning
Plan for strike pay, taxes and gaps in income.
Our union has announced strike benefits. Use this guide to separate that support from unemployment insurance, understand the tax correction and prepare questions about your own coverage.
Sources checked: September 20, 2026.
Our union’s announced support
What has been approved, and what needs confirmation
Hardship assistance
The same update reports a $500,000 fund shared by Higher Education and Marion County, with initial help of up to $1,000 per eligible member, limited to missed pay. Members requesting assistance must have been active strikers and may submit a bill for support. Assistance requires review; it is not an automatic payment. [3]
Before counting on a payment
Confirm membership requirements, how participation is recorded, qualifying alternatives to picketing, the application process and payment dates with our organizer. Our source announcement does not settle these details for every Higher Ed worker.
What was wrong about the tax answer at the meeting?
Strike pay is taxable income. IRS Publication 525 generally treats union strike and lockout benefits as income. Its narrow exception for a payment established as a gift does not make ordinary strike pay tax-free. Keep payment records and set aside money for taxes as appropriate for your household. [1]
The meeting’s suggestion that strike pay becomes taxable only after $2,000 should not be used. A payer’s obligation to issue a tax form is a different question from your obligation to report taxable income, including income for which no form arrives. Ask our union which documentation it will issue; ask a tax preparer how to report your payments. [2]
Hardship assistance needs a separate answer. We have not verified the tax treatment of each kind of hardship payment. Do not assume that a bill paid on your behalf is automatically tax-free; ask for written program guidance. The IRS generally counts income paid to someone else on your behalf as your income unless an exclusion applies. [2]
Oregon unemployment insurance
Apply when your hours fall, and keep filing weekly.
Prepare a Frances Online account now. When you become unemployed or your hours are reduced, apply or restart a claim and follow Oregon Employment Department (OED) instructions. File a weekly claim for each week you seek benefits, including while a decision is pending. Answer every question accurately. [4]
- Identify the strike correctly. OED directs you to indicate you are still working for the employer involved in the strike and select “strike or lockout.” [5]
- Meet weekly requirements. Be able and available to work; currently, striking claimants must complete and record at least one work-seeking activity weekly. Recheck OED guidance because this requirement may change. [5]
- Report hours and gross earnings for the week worked. Include other jobs and work before the strike began, even if the paycheck arrives later. Ask OED how to report strike pay or hardship assistance; do not assume those payments are ignored or automatically deducted. [6]
| Requirement | What to plan for |
|---|---|
| Unpaid strike week | First, a qualifying week below full-time hours and below your weekly benefit amount. |
| Separate waiting week | Next, the ordinary unpaid waiting week, unless already served in your benefit year. |
| 2026 limit | Up to 10 payable weeks for the strike, subject to eligibility. |
| Later employer back pay | Report strike-settlement back pay to OED. An employer may reduce that back pay by unemployment already received. If back pay creates an unemployment overpayment, OED must recover the overpaid benefits. [15] |
School-break restrictions can affect some education workers. OED determines individual claims; another campus’s outcome is not a ruling on your claim. [5]
A payable week is not a promised deposit date. Budget for a delay and use the benefit amount OED provides for your claim. Its wage and benefit report is not, by itself, approval of eligibility. [7]
Unemployment benefits are taxable, too
Oregon unemployment benefits are subject to federal and state income tax. OED offers withholding choices and provides a Form 1099-G. Withholding is a payment toward your tax bill, not a determination of the final amount you owe. [7]
Health coverage, food and retirement
Confirm the details for your household.
Will my health coverage continue?
OSU’s published rule for benefits-eligible classified staff requires at least 80 hours of work or paid leave in a month to earn coverage for the following month. This is a monthly test, not a pay-period test. Ask how any exception or protected leave applies to your situation. [13]
The meeting discussed avoiding a gap in coverage. That is not an individual coverage determination. Before relying on a date, ask OSU Benefits to confirm your medical, dental and vision coverage, payroll deductions, paid-hour requirements and what happens if unpaid time continues into another month.
If a reduction in hours causes loss of coverage, PEBB’s COBRA notice describes continuation rights for qualified beneficiaries. Continuation requires an election and payment; ask for your applicable deadline and full premium. [8]
Ask for a written answer: “Through what date is my coverage active? What could change that date, what would continuation cost, and how will I receive notices if I cannot use my work email?”
Keep open enrollment on your calendar. PEBB says everyone must complete open enrollment Oct. 1–31, 2026, for 2027 benefits. Arrange access and ask for help before the deadline if work-system access is interrupted. [14]
Can I receive more SNAP because my paycheck stops?
A household with a striking member generally must have qualified for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits immediately before the strike and still qualify when applying. Reduced strike income alone does not produce a larger benefit. Federal rules include exceptions to who counts as a striker, so ask the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) to assess your household rather than ruling yourself out. [9]
Use Oregon’s ONE system to apply for food, medical, cash and child-care programs, or call ODHS at 800-699-9075. Each program has its own rules. [10] For immediate help, use our food and housing guide.
What about PERS and my time sheet?
Unpaid time can affect more than the amount contributed to retirement. PERS says a reported leave without pay of 11 or more business days in a calendar month generally means no retirement service credit for that month. Ask PERS and payroll how the rule applies to your plan and work record. [11]
Keep your own record of work performed and strike time. Confirm the exact time code, deadline and submission method for your payroll system with payroll and our organizer. The meeting raised unresolved differences between Workday and EmpCenter; this guide does not assign a universal code or promise an unchanged end-of-month paycheck.
Questions to resolve before the first missed paycheck
- What bills come due before any strike benefit or unemployment payment arrives?
- Who will confirm participation, accommodation requests and payment status?
- How much should our household set aside for taxes?
- Which health-coverage or retirement deadlines apply to me?
- Which documents should I save outside work systems, without taking confidential employer information?
Send a benefits question to our local or read the key strike questions.
Sources and review
Financial and benefit sources
Sources checked Sept. 20, 2026. Announced union support is identified separately from agency eligibility rules.
- IRS Publication 525, “Strike and lockout benefits” — federal income-tax treatment of union strike benefits.
- IRS, Taxable income — report taxable income even without an information return; payments on your behalf.
- Local 083, Sept. 15 strike benefits update — reports the Sept. 13 Higher Education benefit and hardship-fund approval; detailed implementation requires confirmation.
- OED, How to apply for unemployment insurance benefits — initial applications and weekly claims.
- OED, Unemployment insurance benefits for striking workers — strike-specific questions, unpaid weeks, weekly requirements, 2026 limit and back pay.
- OED, Frequently asked questions — reporting hours and gross earnings; ask OED about payments not addressed in its guidance.
- OED, Unemployment Insurance Claimant Handbook — claims decisions, potential benefits, taxes and withholding.
- Oregon PEBB, COBRA continuation notice (PDF) — continuation when qualifying events cause coverage loss; not an OSU strike-specific coverage decision.
- 7 CFR 273.1(e), SNAP striker rules — pre-strike eligibility, income calculations and exceptions.
- ODHS, Medical, food, cash and child-care benefits — applications and telephone assistance.
- Oregon PERS, Leave without pay questions and answers — reporting unpaid leave and effects on service credit.
- Local 083, Sept. 18 strike notice report — intended Sept. 28 start and continuing bargaining.
- OSU Human Resources, Benefits eligibility and enrollment — classified staff’s 80-hour monthly requirement for following-month coverage.
- Oregon PEBB, 2027 open enrollment announcement — mandatory Oct. 1–31, 2026, enrollment window.
- Oregon Legislature, ORS 657.150, 657.153 and 657.310 — strike-settlement back pay, employer offsets and recovery of resulting unemployment overpayments.