U n i t e d S t a t e s G o v e r n m e n t FORM G-l ISf (1-92)

TO

FROM

General

SUBJECT : Request for Opinion - United Steel Workers

This is in response to your request by memorandum dated October 26, 2000, for an 

opinion concerning the status under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act of 

employees of a car repair facility owned and operated by TTX who are represented by

the United Steel Workers should the employees go on strike against the facility.

Under section 2(a)(1)(A)(iii) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act no benefits 

are payable for the first 14 days of unemployment attributable to a strike. Benefits may 

be payable for days of unemployment attributable to a strike in subsequent registration 

periods; however, no benefits are payable for the first 4 days of unemployment in such 

subsequent registration periods. Moreover, employees may be disqualified for 

employment benefits pursuant to section 4(a-2)(iii) of the Railroad Unemployment 

Insurance Act if the strike is an illegal strike.

Section 4(a-2)(iii) of the RUIA provides that:

There shall not be considered as a day of unemployment, with respect to 

any employee -

(iii) subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, any day with 

respect to which the Board finds that his unemployment was due to a 

stoppage of work because of a strike in the establishment, premises, or 

enterprise at which he was last employed, and the Board finds that such 

strike was commenced in violation of the provisions of the Railway Labor 

Act [45 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq.] or in violation of the established rules and 

practices of a bona fide labor organization of which he was a member. [45 

U.S.C. §354(a-2)(iii)].

- R a i l r o a d R e t i r e m e n t B o a r d M e m o r a n d u m

November 3, 2000

L-2000-33

Ronald Russo

Director of Policy and Systems

Steven A. Bartholo 

Counsel
Under section 4(a-2)(iii), no unemployment benefits may be paid to an employee who 

strikes in violation of the Railway Labor Act. You indicate that information gathered so 

far suggests that the United Steel Workers is not a labor organization organized under 

the Railway Labor Act. Legal Opinion L-82-149 addressed the issue of whether a labor 

organization which had been certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) 

under the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act would be required to follow the 

provisions of the Railway Labor Act in order to become entitled to unemployment 

benefits under the RUIA. That legal opinion concluded that the Railroad Retirement 

Board would recognize the certification by the NLRB, which had assumed jurisdiction of 

the bargaining relationship prior to the strike. Thus, the labor organization in question 

did not have to satisfy the requirements of the Railway Labor Act in order to become 

entitled to unemployment benefits under the RUIA.

We continue to follow the interpretation accorded section 4(a-2)(iii) in Legal Opinion L82-149. If an organization has been certified under the National Labor Relations Act, 

the Railroad Retirement Board does not have the authority to disregard the certification 

and apply a set of procedures and rules that might be inconsistent with the statute 

under which the organization has been certified. Consistent with the intent embodied in 

section 4(a-2)(iii) that benefits not be paid in the case of an illegal strike, a strike 

commenced by an organization certified under the National Labor Relations Act must 

conform to the requirements of that statute. Thus, in this case, if as you suggest, the 

United Steel Workers has been certified by the NLRB, that labor organization is not 

required to comply with the requirements of the Railway Labor Act, but rather would 

have to comply with the National Labor Relations Act and its own established rules and 

practices in order for a work stoppage not to be considered an illegal strike which would 

disqualify its members from entitlement to unemployment benefits under the RUIA.

MPDadabo:cmw

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