Unemployment benefits during a labor dispute

You may be eligible for unemployment benefits if you can show:

• You’re not participating in, financing, or directly interested in the labor dispute that caused your unemployment and you do not belong to the trade, class, or organization whose members work there and are participating in, financing, or directly interested in the dispute or strike; or
• You’re unemployed due to a lockout. A lockout exists when an employer:
  • Closes the plant where the labor dispute is occurring or informs workers that there will be no work until the labor dispute has terminated
  • Announces that work is available after a contract expires only under terms and conditions less favorable than the last terms and conditions of employment

In both situations, the workers’ union or representative must inform the employer that workers involved in the dispute are willing to work under previous terms and conditions, pending negotiation of a new contract.