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an hour ago
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Oregon lawmakers pass bill allowing striking workers to receive unemployment benefits
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The Oregon legislature passed a trimmed-down version of a bill on Thursday that would allow striking workers to receive unemployment benefits. Senate Bill 916 repeals a law that denies unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed Oregonians due to an active labor dispute, allowing striking workers who are otherwise eligible for UI to receive the benefits under the bill. The bill passed on Thursday after failing in the Senate. DON'T MISS: Oregon bill offering unemployment benefits to striking workers could 'destabilize' school services, superintendents warn Initially, the bill allowed striking workers to receive up to 26-weeks of benefits, except during a recession or as the economy recovers from a recession, when workers are less likely to strike. Lawmakers in the House passed the bill, however the legislation hit a snag in the Senate. On Tuesday, lawmakers held a Conference Committee hearing in a group made up of members of senators and representatives. There, the lawmakers discussed amendments to the bill. This included deductions in backpay for teachers who claim unemployment during a strike and trimming the initial 26-weeks of unemployment benefits to 10 weeks, which lawmakers passed on Thursday. During the Conference Committee hearing, Representative Dacia Grayber (D-SW Portland East Beaverton) said she felt the 10-week amendment is a 'massive compromise.' Newberg vineyard workers arrested in targeted ICE raids: Salinas 'It's not something I'm entirely thrilled with,' Grayber said. 'When unemployment insurance was developed in Oregon, I do believe that we were living in very different economic times in a very different political reality where we have over the last few decades watched systemic disenfranchisement.' Grayber, who was among chief sponsors of the bill, told KOIN 6 News in a statement on Friday, 'This is a historic win for the working people of Oregon. Nobody should starve or lose their health care while a fair contract is being bargained—and SB 916 was crafted to expedite ending strikes by bringing parties to the table with more urgency for a last, best, and final offer.' 'In addition to the previous House changes made to be responsive to the revenue forecast, protective of the UI fund, and streamline the process for schools, the changes adopted by the Conference Committee limit striking workers to receiving benefits for ten weeks, a sixteen-week reduction from the bill we passed out of the House last week. While I am disappointed with this reduction, it is a testament to the power of compromise, and the ability of legislators to bridge divides to secure policy wins for working Oregonians,' the representative added. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now During the Conference Committee hearing, Senator Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles) voiced his opposition against the amendment or the underlying bill, decrying the bill's provision allowing both public and private sector employees to receive unemployment benefits while on strike. 'For me, it's too much to ask of the system and structure that we have in place,' Bonham said. ' We have a healthy fund today due in no small part because all the agreements over the years have been honored. It is a healthy enough (unemployment) fund that I don't know that this will be a massive draw on it but again, the kids will lose if teachers are incentivized to strike. We've always been able to negotiate for backpay but then the framework coming back from strike, incentivizing strikes in this way, in my opinion, you're decreasing the threshold for which someone wouldn't be burdened by a strike and thus I think you're incentivizing a strike.' Portland leaders address community ahead of weekend demonstrations Bonham issued a press release after the bill's passage, calling the bill a 'terrible idea.' 'Democrats just made it easier to strike against schools and public services—and stuck taxpayers with the bill. But the people who will suffer most are the kids, the ones without a lobbyist or a vote, whose school days will be lost so unions can cash in,' Bonham said. After passing the House and Senate, the bill heads to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek's desk for signature. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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2 days ago
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Oregon lawmakers scale back proposal for unemployment strike payments amid blowback
Hundreds of educators, parents and students joined a rally Nov. 1. 2023 at Roosevelt High School in north Portland to support striking teachers. Teachers like them could soon receive up to 10 weeks of unemployment benefits under a compromise negotiated by Oregon lawmakers.(Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle) A particularly controversial measure that would give unemployment benefits to public and private Oregon workers during labor strikes survived a key Wednesday hearing after lawmakers agreed to cut the length of time in which workers on strike could cash checks by more than half. Senate Bill 916 would have limited striking workers to receiving benefits for 26 weeks, in line with the current caps on unemployment checks for Oregonians. But after the Senate rejected an amended version of the bill on Tuesday, a bicameral conference committee voted Wednesday to set a new cutoff at 10 weeks after a two-week waiting period. Committee members voted along party lines, with the sole Republican present voting against the amendments. 'I do feel like this is a massive compromise,' said Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Portland, the bill's lead author. 'It's not something I'm entirely thrilled with.' The measure would be a first-in-the-nation move by Oregon, establishing a right to strike for public and private employees while ensuring them the ability to apply for unemployment benefits. Aside from traditionally strike-exempt public employees such as firefighters and police, workers such as nurses and teachers could claim benefits after two weeks of striking. The bill has been among this session's most controversial measures, laying bare deep divisions over how best to use the state's $6.4 billion unemployment insurance fund. The changes come after support for a Democrat-led bill collapsed in a concurring Senate vote on Tuesday amid concerns from Republicans and a key dissenting Democrat. It had already drawn opposition from school board leaders who help negotiate teacher strikes, business groups, and local government leaders who contribute to the state's unemployment fund. 'We have a healthy fund today due in no small part because all the agreements in the years have been honored,' committee member Sen. Daniel Bonham, R- The Dalles, told his colleagues before voting against the amended bill. 'It is a healthy enough fund that I don't know that this will be a massive draw on it, but again the kids will lose if teachers are incentivized to strike.' House Democrats got the bill over the finish line in their chamber last week, arguing that the benefits would be used sparingly and not as a tool to prolong strikes, but to shorten them. A change made in a House committee would cap benefits to eight weeks if the state's unemployment fund is at risk, and lawmakers also included an amendment that mandates deductions in backpay for benefits claimed by teachers during strikes. Grayber on Tuesday repeated a promise she has made to continue monitoring the bill's implementation if it were to pass, but also signaled that she hoped to move past concerns that the bill would promote misuse of the unemployment system or dramatically hamper school life and public facilities. She said she's been 'guided by the math' behind the bill from the beginning, a subtle nod to the estimates from the state's employment department that the bill would not change existing tax structures for businesses and government agencies paying into the state's unemployment funding. 'I have heard the opposition,' she said. 'I very much look forward to moving past what feels like a worst-case scenario focus that we've maintained for several weeks now.' Oregonians who have lost a job can currently apply for unemployment weekly checks ranging from $196 to $836. The bill would allow benefits to kick in immediately if workers are locked out of facilities by their employer during negotiations. Sen. Mark Meek, D-Gladstone, is a sponsor of the legislation, but withdrew his support when it came up short in a 15-14 Senate vote on Tuesday. In a brief interview after the hearing, he declined to comment on whether he supported the proposed changes. He referred to another attempt at a transportation and infrastructure funding bill that the Legislature has taken up in the final weeks of the session: 'If there's time to pass a transportation package, there's time to get this right,' he said. The new amendment pushes the bill closer to a similar law passed in Washington that caps benefits at six weeks, but which doesn't go so far as to protect public employees like Oregon's proposed legislation. New Jersey and New York have also passed laws in recent years to provide unemployment benefits to striking private sector workers, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar effort in 2023 over fiscal concerns. Another bill extending benefits to striking workers in Connecticut is currently sitting on Gov. Ned Lamont's desk, but he is expected to veto it. The bill passed out of committee on a 4-1 vote. Rep. Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, was excused. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
23-05-2025
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Oregon bill offering unemployment benefits to striking workers could ‘destabilize' school services, superintendents warn
PORTLAND, Ore. () – A bill advanced in the Oregon House earlier this week that could allow eligible employees who are on strike to receive unemployment benefits — raising concerns among superintendents of Oregon's largest school districts. Senate Bill 916 A passed out of the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards on Wednesday after passing the Senate in a 16-12 vote. The bill would repeal a law that denies unemployment insurance benefits to unemployed Oregonians due to an active labor dispute, allowing striking workers who are otherwise eligible for UI could receive benefits under the bill. Additionally, the bill would create an extra unpaid week for striking workers before they can qualify for UI benefits. Under the bill, striking workers have a one-week UI disqualification period followed by another one-week waiting period before they can receive the benefits. The bill would also make school districts deduct from future wage benefits received by an employee during a strike. If the bill passes, Republican committee members note Oregon would become the first state in the nation to allow public employees to receive UI while on strike. Oregon Gov. Kotek 'exploring' banning student cell phone use The bill has raised concerns from the superintendents of Beaverton School District, Bend-La Pine Schools, Gresham-Barlow School District, Hillsboro School District, Medford School District, Portland Public Schools, Salem-Keizer Public Schools and Tigard-Tualatin School District. The superintendents of those districts — among the largest in Oregon — penned a to members of Oregon's House on May 16, urging them to oppose the bill, citing major budget concerns. 'We must share the serious financial strain and administrative burden this bill would place on school districts – especially during a time of profound fiscal uncertainty. The core of our concern is simple: every public dollar intended for education must be spent in a way that directly benefits students,' the superintendents wrote. 'Ongoing security concerns' spark closure of West Burnside burger joint 'SB 916 A may create new financial pressures that could affect how we allocate resources tosupport educational services. As you know, public employers like school districts in Oregon are directly responsible for covering unemployment benefits—these costs are paid dollar-for-dollar by each school district,' the superintendents continued. 'Should this bill pass, districts like ours would be required to cover the costs of unemployment payments for labor disputes, further reducing already tight budgets. We simply do not have the financial capacity to absorb new and unplanned costs of this nature without significant impacts on students, including the possibility of shorter school years, increased class sizes, or reductions in critical student programs and support services.' The superintendents also acknowledged an introduced by Committee Chair Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-SW Portland & Easter Beaverton), which tacked on the bill's provision allowing districts to deduct the amount of benefits charged from an employee's future wages. 'We appreciate the amendment to SB 916 A, intended to make the bill 'cost-neutral' for school districts by ensuring that districts do not pay more than 100% of an employee's compensation,' the superintendents wrote. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'Unfortunately, from both a policy and operational standpoint, this provision raises serious implementation concerns. Whether school districts have to receive confirmation of UI benefits paid before they can process partial backpay to striking employees, or to recover UI benefits that are clawed back from employees, school districts may be left in prolonged financial limbo.' 'According to information from the Oregon Employment Department, districts may not seereimbursement for UI benefits for months following a strike—if at all—leading to significantcash flow issues during already difficult budget years. For districts that finalize their budgets inJune, these unknown costs and timelines further complicate fiscal planning and threaten todestabilize student services,' the letter states. These concerns were also discussed by the House committee members during Wednesday's meeting, where Chair Grayber discussed her amendment. 'This is an amendment that I brought forward in an attempt to be responsive to concerns to a changing revenue forecast and ultimately to be deeply protective of the UI fund. It is my utmost intention, it is of all of us, to protect that fund and make sure we have a solvent, robust UI fund that does not suffer the whims of recession or the economy,' Grayber explained. Oregon Dept. of Agriculture warns of possible spotted lanternfly sighting in Portland The committee chair added, 'We heard from school districts, we heard from school boards about some concerns they had. While some of those concerns are based in just how our UI fund is actually structured – those are fundamental things – we sought to find ways that make this more streamlined for that cost recovery.' After the bill passed out of the House committee, Republican committee members issued a press release accusing Democratic committee members of ignoring the calls of the superintendents. 'Without a doubt, this legislation will hurt Oregon students. We should be listening to our School Administrators who steward our education dollars instead of prioritizing political donors,' said Rep. Boshart Davis (R-Albany). 'Either we are concerned about the well-being of our students, our lagging education results, and our chronic rates of absenteeism or we aren't. It is hard for me to fathom that Democratic Legislators are willing to turn a blind eye to their very own Superintendents and our students – but here we are,' added Rep. Scharf (R-Amity). Esquire names 2 new Oregon hotels among the best in the world The Republican committee members pointed to an amendment introduced by Sen. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), which would have added a two-week disqualification period for UI. The amendment would also cap the number of weeks benefits could be received to six weeks, noting as drafted, the bill would allow striking workers to receive up to 26-weeks of benefits, except during a recession or as the economy recovers from a recession, when workers are less likely to strike. The amendment would also make the bill effective until 2035 to allow lawmakers to examine its effectiveness. The Republican committee members said they made a motion to send the bill to the House Rules Committee for further discussion, but the motion was voted down. Longstanding summer festival will return to North Portland after 1-year hiatus During Wednesday's committee meeting, Rep. Travis Nelson (D-Portland) argued in favor of the bill, stating, 'I know there's a lot of concerns about a dramatic increase in strikes – I've been involved in the labor movement for a long time. I know that union workers do not want to strike. It is a last resort. There are many offramps before you even get to that point. I think that the conversations around an increase in strikes related to this bill have been overblown…I don't think that we're going to see our schools and our local governments hit the way that many have indicated.' 'I hear those concerns, and Representative, I agree with you,' Chair Grayber responded to Nelson. 'This bill will hopefully result in shorter strikes, if we go to those strikes at all.' 'I have read those concerns of major school districts, I have read the concerns brought forward by other educational (groups including the Oregon School Boards Association and the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators) and I just want to underline investing in our teachers is investing in our schools and our students,' Grayber continued. 'I'm not going to gaslight anyone and say, 'Yeah, nothing bad will happen.' We don't know. When we're taking policy on like this, it is something that we are leaning into and saying we believe in the ability of this policy to protect those workers and to bring, hopefully, resolution quicker so that our students are back in those schools. I stand by that.' In a statement shared with KOIN 6 News on Thursday, Grayber's office explained, 'The majority of changes to Senate Bill 916 have been in direct response to questions and feedback from school districts, in order to streamline administration and mitigate any cost impact in the event of a strike. Additionally, since 2000, there have been only eight school strikes, constituting less than 0.5% of all negotiations. Almost none of these would have been long enough to be affected by SB 916 had it been in place.' The bill is backed by the AFL-CIO with chief sponsors including Senators Kathleen Taylor (D-Milwaukie, Oak Grove, SE & NE Portland), Wlnsvey Campos (D-Aloha), James Manning Jr. (D-Eugene), along with Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-SW Portland, East Beaverton) and House Majority Leader Ben Bowman (D-Tigard, Metzger and South Beaverton). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
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The North Korean IT worker scheme infiltrated an American election campaign website
Home remodeling and architectural design are among the new areas North Korean IT workers are expanding into in an effort to continue to make money to fund their country's weapons of mass destruction program, a source told Fortune. The IT worker scam, which has collected billions for North Korea, is innovating beyond remote tech work after being disrupted by law enforcement; even the most mundane tasks are under threat. A candidate for Oregon's state legislature—who was later elected to represent southwest Portland and East Beaverton—had her team hire a designer for her campaign website last year. According to a staff member familiar with the work, the web developer was hired from freelance platform Upwork after a phone interview. There were no red flags during the interview process, nor did the developer indicate that there would be anyone else working on the website, the staffer said. The contract started May 10, the site went live around mid-July, and the contract ended on August 27. The budgeted cost was $2,000. However, the web developer hired to design the site had a subcontractor handle minor edits at the end of the project. A North Korean information technology worker, known and tracked by cybersecurity professionals around the world, logged into the WordPress content management system on the backend of the campaign website using credentials linked to the web developer. The hired developer told Fortune he had no knowledge of the North Korean IT worker scheme and wasn't aware of the threat or the vast ongoing conspiracy perpetuated by authoritarian leader Kim Jong-Un to fund the regime's nuclear weapons program. The developer denied any collaboration with North Koreans. In a statement, Oregon state Rep. Dacia Grayber told Fortune the campaign website did not store any user data or sensitive details. 'As soon as we learned there was a suspicious login to the Wordpress site, my team and I took steps to secure all login information, and ensure that no user data was put at risk,' Grayber told Fortune. 'We appreciate being made aware of this larger trend, and find it deeply concerning that in such a tech-dependent world, traditionally trusted means of identity verification are still not enough to mitigate entities that may want to do America harm.' In case you're unfamiliar, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has deployed more than 100,000 workers to 40 countries around the world to work in sewing, construction, and other industries to avoid crushing financial sanctions. Jobs in information technology, the bowels of tech, have proven to be a reliable cash cow for the regime and a seismic challenge for Fortune 500 companies to thwart. In sum: North Korean software developers are posing as Americans to get high-paying remote jobs in tech. The plan has been so successful they are trying out new ways to generate cash and crypto now that word has spread about the highly lucrative IT worker scheme. Under the scam, trained DPRK IT workers steal or rent American identities, use generative AI to craft résumés and fake LinkedIn profiles, and then get remote jobs with U.S. firms under false pretenses and in violation of international laws. All told, the IT worker program reliably generates between $250 million to $600 million per year, according to the UN. DPRK authoritarian ruler Kim Jong-Un uses the money to fund the country's illegal nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile program. A UN report detailing the IT worker scheme revealed the North Korean developers make about $15,000 to $60,000 per month apiece, and all are required to earn a minimum of $100,000 a year through full-time and freelance tech work. While the IT worker scheme is generally grounded in making money for North Korea, it also yields intelligence that fuels the country's flourishing criminal cyber-heist empire. Between 2017 and 2023, the UN estimates DPRK attacks yielded at least $3 billion in crypto. The crimes were allegedly carried out by North Korean Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors who operate under the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People's Army. The scheme has since been disrupted by numerous indictments, reports, and companies stepping up their game in terms of identity verification. Just this month, the U.S. Treasury financial crimes enforcement network (FinCen) launched a rule proposal that identified Cambodia-based Huione Group as a money-laundering concern. FinCen claimed Huione Group was behind money-washing related to at least $37 million in proceeds from DPRK cyber heists. 'Huione Group has established itself as the marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors like the DPRK and criminal syndicates, who have stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,' said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a FinCen statement. Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, told an audience of cybersecurity experts in Las Vegas last week that he gets 'many' calls from companies and highly sophisticated venture-capital firms with tech businesses in their portfolios that are dealing with the DPRK worker problem. 'The threat has evolved as industries and the government have tried to counter it,' said Vorndran, speaking at the RSAC annual security conference. 'It's very pervasive.' Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told Bloomberg TV in an interview that he referred North Koreans and Chinese workers at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to criminal authorities. 'I mean, what are the North Koreans and the Chinese doing in these companies,' Pulte said at the Milken Institute Global Conference in California. Given the spotlight on the issue, DPRK IT workers are pivoting. Michael 'Barni' Barnhart, an investigator who leads DPRK efforts at security firm DTEX, told Fortune the specific area that IT workers have been testing involves an early-stage scheme to pose as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or remodeling and architectural specialists. The IT workers are posing as experienced engineers in Minnesota, Illinois and countries like Australia by fabricating licenses and then offering their services to people looking to get blueprints approved, Barnhart said. The IT workers have also faked permitting and design approvals for their own work. Barnhart said the workers are targeting residential markets in Australia and the U.S. and the scheme takes place entirely online. The workers look up state government and municipal websites to find the certifications and approvals needed, copy profiles from real people to make their own appear legitimate, and then offer to provide designs and renderings from licensed professionals to people looking to improve their homes. 'They love doing cyber crime that is so far underneath the threshold of giving a damn about that it's not reportable,' said Barnhart. 'But when thousands of people do it at the same time, it's quite profitable for the regime.' By tracking known DPRK IT worker profiles, Barnhart said he found evidence that a restaurant in Chino, California, purchased plans online from a North Korean operative and used them to rebuild their outdoor patio. DPRK workers selling plans used for homebuilding or commercial construction could easily go south if the plans are unsound or the workers get aggressive. And, potential involvement in campaign donations or U.S. elections is also concerning, he said. 'What if it was a bigger campaign?' said Barnhart. An IT worker embedded with an APT could have designed the website, added a tracker or malware to it, and used it for propaganda, he said. Jef Green, president of compliance and merchant services provider C&E Systems, which handled the Grayber campaign's donation collections, told Fortune there's a complete separation between funding and the information the campaigns use to build their websites. 'If someone has access to her website, they never have any access whatsoever to the merchant page or the donation page,' said Green. 'That is our software.' These incidents appear minor and are focused on revenue generation, but they are still warning signs, said Barnhart. 'You can do all the right things to verify workers but the second you outsource something' there can be lapses in policies and procedures, said Barnhart. 'They love to do these things through a third party.' In a statement, Upwork told Fortune fraud prevention and compliance with U.S. and international sanctions are critical priorities. The company said it has invested in industry-leading security and identity verification measures. 'It represents a challenge that affects the entire online work industry, and Upwork is at the forefront of combating these threats,' the company said. 'Any attempt to use a false identity, misrepresent location, or take advantage of Upwork customers is a strict violation of our terms of use, and we take aggressive action to detect, block, and remove bad actors from our platform.' An Upwork spokesperson told Fortune the web developer profile who was hired to work on Grayber's campaign has been deactivated from the platform. This story was originally featured on
