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SENATE BILL NO. 6243
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AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
C 083 L 88
State of Washington 50th Legislature 1988 Regular Session
By Senators Smitherman, Lee, Warnke, Bender, Talmadge, Vognild, Metcalf, Hansen, Stratton, West and Fleming; by request of Joint Select Committee on Labor-Management Relations
Read first time 1/15/88 and referred to Committee on Economic Development & Labor.
AN ACT Relating to unemployment compensation during labor disputes; amending RCW 50.20.090; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. Section 77, chapter 35, Laws of 1945 as last amended by section 1, chapter 2, Laws of 1987 and RCW 50.20.090 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) An individual shall be disqualified for benefits for any week with respect to which the commissioner finds that the individual's unemployment is:
(a) Due
to a ((stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute)) strike
at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the individual is or
was last employed((: PROVIDED, That this section shall not apply if it is
shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner that:
(1) (a) The
individual is unemployed due to a lockout by his or her employer, except for
lockouts by employers who are members of a multi-employer bargaining unit after
one member of the multi-employer bargaining unit has been struck by its
employees as a result of the multi-employer bargaining process. The recognized
or certified collective bargaining agent must have notified the employer that
the employees are willing to return to work, pending the ratification of a new
collective bargaining agreement, under the terms and conditions contained in
the employer's last contract offer made prior to the start of the lockout
unless the employer's last offer amounts to a substantial deterioration of the
terms and conditions of employment which existed prior to the termination of
the last collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the
individual's recognized or certified collective bargaining agent; and
(b) The
individual has been locked out for four or more weeks.
Benefits
shall be payable to an otherwise eligible individual beginning with the fourth
week in which the individual is unemployed due to a lockout. This subsection
(1) shall have no effect on and after December 27, 1987)); or
(b) Due to a lockout by his or her employer who is a member of a multi-employer bargaining unit and who has locked out the employees at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the individual is or was last employed after one member of the multi-employer bargaining unit has been struck by its employees as a result of the multi-employer bargaining process.
(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply if it is shown to the satisfaction of the commissioner that:
(a) The
individual is not participating in or financing or directly interested in the
((labor dispute which caused the stoppage of work)) strike or lockout
that caused the individual's unemployment; and
(b) The
individual does not belong to a grade or class of workers of which, immediately
before the commencement of the ((stoppage)) strike or lockout,
there were members employed at the premises at which the ((stoppage)) strike
or lockout occurs, any of whom are participating in or financing or
directly interested in the ((dispute)) strike or lockout:
PROVIDED, That if in any case separate branches of work which are commonly
conducted as separate businesses in separate premises are conducted in separate
departments of the same premises, each such department shall, for the purpose
of this subdivision, be deemed to be a separate factory, establishment, or
other premises.
(3) Any disqualification imposed under this section shall end when the strike or lockout is terminated.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of employment security shall study and analyze the impact of section 1 of this act on the number of claimants receiving unemployment insurance benefits and the total amount of benefits paid, and on the type, frequency, duration, and outcome of labor disputes. In performing the study the department shall specifically address the impact of section 1(1)(b) of this act on the above subjects.
(2) In performing its duties under this section the department shall periodically convene meetings with representatives of labor and management, including but not limited to representatives of the following: A general business association; an organization broadly representing organized labor; the construction industry; construction industry organized labor; the trade industry; trade industry organized labor; the manufacturing industry; manufacturing industry organized labor; the service industry; service industry organized labor; the transportation industry; transportation industry organized labor; the communication industry; and communication industry organized labor.
(3) For the purpose of studying and analyzing the impact of section 1(1)(b) of this act the department shall periodically convene, in addition to those meetings specified in subsection (2) of this section, meetings with representatives of labor and management from industries with multi-employer bargaining units, including but not limited to representatives from a general business association; an organization broadly representing organized labor; the retail trade industry; and retail trade industry organized labor.
(4) The department shall report its findings to the governor, the senate economic development and labor committee, and the house of representatives commerce and labor committee, or the appropriate successor committees, by the commencement of the 1990 regular session of the legislature.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect on the Sunday following the day on which the governor signs this act.