The provision of unemployment insurance benefits has traditionally been treated as a neutral arrangement where employers are not prejudiced nor will employees gain in a labour dispute. If we extend the qualifying period for the full period of a labour dispute, then we're providing extra benefits to employees who are engaging in a discretionary activity, a strike.
That activity is designed to exert economic pressure on the employer to cause the employer to otherwise settle for an amount that is normally higher, in terms of compensation or operating conditions, than they feel they can afford to pay. Therefore, the extension goes beyond the neutral treatment of employment insurance provisions.