By Tillery                                            H.B. No. 1625

         75R6639 JMM-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the eligibility for unemployment benefits of

 1-3     individuals who are unemployed due to certain labor disputes.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 207.048, Labor Code, is amended by

 1-6     amending Subsections (a), (b), and (f) and adding Subsection (g) to

 1-7     read as follows:

 1-8           (a)  An individual is disqualified for benefits for a benefit

 1-9     period in which the individual's total or partial unemployment is

1-10     caused by[:]

1-11                 [(1)]  the individual's stoppage of work because of a

1-12     labor dispute at the factory, establishment, or other premises

1-13     where the individual is or was last employed[; or]

1-14                 [(2)  a labor dispute at another place that:]

1-15                       [(A)  is owned or operated by the same employing

1-16     unit that owns or operates the premises where the individual is or

1-17     was last employed; and]

1-18                       [(B)  supplies material or services necessary to

1-19     the continued and usual operation of the premises where the

1-20     individual is or was last employed].

1-21           (b)  Disqualification for benefits under this section does

1-22     not apply to an individual who shows to the satisfaction of the

1-23     commission that the individual:

1-24                 (1)  is not participating in, financing, or directly

 2-1     interested in the labor dispute; [and]

 2-2                 (2)  does not belong to a grade or class of workers any

 2-3     members of which were employed at the premises of the labor dispute

 2-4     immediately before the beginning of the labor dispute and any of

 2-5     whom are participating in, financing, or directly interested in the

 2-6     dispute;

 2-7                 (3)  has been locked out of the individual's place of

 2-8     employment; or

 2-9                 (4)  has been placed on emergency leave without pay by

2-10     the individual's employer.

2-11           (f)  For the purposes of this section:[,]

2-12                 (1)  "Lock out" means the denial of entry by an

2-13     employer to the place of employment of employees of that employer

2-14     who have not:

2-15                       (A)  gone on strike; or

2-16                       (B)  notified the employer of a date on which the

2-17     employees intend to go on strike.

2-18                 (2)  "Premises" ["premises"] includes a vessel.

2-19           (g)  For the purposes of Subsection (b), the payment of

2-20     regular union dues by an individual does not constitute financing a

2-21     labor dispute.

2-22           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-27     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 3-1     passage, and it is so enacted.