(1) RCW 50.20.010 (1)(c) requires individuals who receive unemployment benefits to actively look for work using customary trade practices. They must also be able to work and available for work. In some trades, labor unions refer members to job openings in that labor market. The referral union program is a way for unions to help its members find work and to give eligibility information about its members to the department when requested. When an individual is a member of a union in the referral union program, the individual's job search must follow the union's dispatch rules.

(2) The term "union" means a bona fide labor organization formed to negotiate with employers, on behalf of workers collectively, about job related issues such as salary, benefits, hours, and working conditions. A "referral union" means a union that refers its members to jobs by referral or dispatch.

(3) A union must apply with and be approved by the department to join the referral union program.

(4) To be eligible to join the referral union program:

(a) The union must have a constitution, bylaws, or working rules that prohibit its members from seeking work in the industry on their own; or

(b) Members are permitted to seek work in the industry on their own but at least fifty percent of the union members eligible for dispatch who got a job during the most recent completed calendar year did so through referral or dispatch by the union.

(5) For purposes of the referral union program, the terms "referral" and "dispatch" are synonymous.