AN ACT RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY -- BENEFITS (Allows unemployment benefits for workers who are on strike or are locked out of their workplaces by their employer due to a labor dispute.)

H7440

2026 -- H 7440
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LC004168
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
____________
A N A C T
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY --
BENEFITS

Introduced By:
Representatives Furtado, Kislak, Bennett, Casimiro, Kazarian, Donovan,
Alzate, O'Brien, Stewart, and Messier

Date Introduced:
January 30, 2026

Referred To:
House Labor
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Section 28-44-16 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-44 entitled
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"Employment Security — Benefits" is hereby amended to read as follows:
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28-44-16. Labor disputes.
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(a) An individual shall
not
be entitled to benefits if he or she became unemployed because
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of a strike or other industrial controversy in the establishment in which he or she was employed.
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This section shall not apply if it is shown to the satisfaction of the director that the claimant is not
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a member of the organization or group responsible for the labor dispute and is not participating in
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or financing or in any way directly interested in the labor dispute.
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(b) Lockouts.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), an

An
individual shall be
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entitled to benefits if his or her unemployment is the result of his or her employer’s withholding of
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employment for the purpose of resisting collective bargaining demands or gaining collective
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bargaining concessions
, unless:
.
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(1) The claimant’s employer is a member of a multi-employer collective bargaining group
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and the lockout is in response to a strike at another member of that multi-employer collective
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bargaining group; or
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(2) The claimant’s employer establishes to the satisfaction of the director that it has offered
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to the labor organization representing the claimant an extension of then existing wages, hours, and
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working conditions, including enforceable no strike and no lockout prohibitions, for up to three (3)

1
days and the lockout is in response to the labor organization’s refusal to execute the extension.
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(c) If the unemployment continues more than one week following the conclusion of a labor
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dispute, an individual who is otherwise eligible under the terms of this chapter shall be entitled to
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benefits.
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SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT SECURITY --
BENEFITS
***
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This act would allow unemployment benefits for workers who are on strike or are locked
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out of their workplaces by their employer due to a labor dispute.
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This act would take effect upon passage.
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LC004168
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