R994-405-403. Unemployment Due to a Strike

(1) The claimant's unemployment must be the result of an ongoing strike. A strike exists when combined workers refuse to work except upon a certain contingency involving concessions either by the employer or the bargaining unit. A strike consists of at least four components in addition to the suspended employer-employee relationship:

(a) a demand for some concession,

(b) a refusal to work with intent to bring about compliance with demands,

(c) an intention to return to work when an agreement is reached, and

(d) an intention on the part of the employer to re-employ the same employees or employees of a similar class when the demands are acceded to or withdrawn or otherwise adjusted.

(2) A strike may exist without such actions as a proclamation preceding a stoppage of work or pickets at the business or industry announcing an intent and purpose to go out on strike. Although a strike involves a labor dispute, a labor dispute can exist without a strike and a strike can exist without a union. The party or group who first resorts to the use of economic sanctions to settle a dispute must bear the responsibility. A strike occurs when workers withhold services. A lockout occurs when the employer withholds work because of a labor dispute including: the physical closing of the place of employment, refusing to furnish available work to regular employees, or by imposing such terms on their continued employment so that the work becomes unsuitable or the employees could not reasonably be expected to continue to work.

(3) The following are examples of when unemployment is due to a strike;

(a) a strike is formally and properly announced by a union or bargaining group, and as a result of that announcement, the affected employer takes necessary defensive action to discontinue operations,

(b) after a strike begins the employer suspends work because of possible destruction or damage to which the employer's property would not otherwise be exposed, provided the measures taken are those that are reasonably required,

(c) if the employer is not required by contract to submit the dispute to arbitration and the workers ceased working because the employer rejects a proposal by the union or bargaining group to submit the dispute to arbitration, or

(d) upon the expiration of an existing contract, whether or not negotiations have ceased, the employer is willing to furnish work to the employees upon the terms and conditions in force under the expired contract.

(4) The following are examples of when unemployment is not due to a strike;

(a) the claimant was separated from employment for some other reason that occurred prior to the strike, for example: a quit, discharge or a layoff even if the layoff is caused by a strike at an industry upon which the employer is dependent,

(b) the claimant was replaced by other permanent employees,

(c) the claimant was on a temporary layoff, prior to the strike, with a predetermined date of recall; however, if the claimant refuses to return to his or her regular job when called on the predetermined date his or her subsequent unemployment is due to a strike,

(d) as a result of start up delays, the claimant is not recalled to work for a period after the settlement of the strike,

(e) the employer refuses to agree to binding arbitration when the contract provides that the dispute shall be submitted to arbitration, or

(f) the claimant is unemployed due to a lockout. The immediate cause of the work stoppage determines if it is a strike or a lockout depending on who first imposes economic sanctions. A lockout occurs when;

(i) the employer takes the first action to suspend operations resulting from a dispute with employees over wages, hours, or working conditions,

(ii) an employer, anticipating that employees will go on strike, but prior to a positive action by the workers, curtails operations by advising employees not to report for work until further notice. Positive action can include a walkout or formal announcement that the employees are on strike. In this case the immediate cause of the unemployment is the employer's actions, even if a strike is subsequently called., or

(iii) upon expiration of an existing contract where the employer is seeking to obtain unreasonable wage concessions, the employees offer to work at the rate of the expired agreement and continue to bargain in good faith.