BILL REQ. #:  H-4600.1 

Read first time 01/30/2004.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing unemployment benefits to workers in a labor dispute; amending RCW 50.20.090; creating new sections; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 50.20.090 and 1988 c 83 s 1 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 strike at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the individual is or was last employed; 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)(i) The individual is not participating in or financing or directly interested in the strike or lockout that caused the individual's unemployment; and
     (((b))) (ii) The individual does not belong to a grade or class of workers of which, immediately before the commencement of the strike or lockout, there were members employed at the premises at which the strike or lockout occurs, any of whom are participating in or financing or directly interested in the 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.
     (b)(i) The individual is participating in a strike, or is locked out by the employer, in a labor dispute with an employer who is a member of a multiemployer bargaining unit; and
     (ii) The labor dispute arose from contract negotiations in which the employer's last offer prior to the commencement of the strike or lockout included provisions that would, if implemented, result in a substantial deterioration of the individual's working conditions.
     (3) Any disqualification imposed under this section shall end when the strike or lockout is terminated.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state or the eligibility of employers in this state for federal unemployment tax credits, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict, and the finding or determination does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state or the granting of federal unemployment tax credits to employers in this state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act applies to weeks of unemployment that begin on or after the first Sunday after the effective date of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.