An Act to Ensure Fairness in Unemployment Benefits by Clarifying Laws Regarding Labor Organizations
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1368
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: ROEDER
Amends: 26 MRSA §1192, 26 MRSA §1193

Legislative Document
No. 1368
H.P. 882
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act to Ensure Fairness in Unemployment Benefits by Clarifying 
Laws Regarding Labor Organizations
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ROEDER of Bangor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§13, as amended by PL 2017, c. 453, §3, is further 
amended to read:
13.  Reemployment services and eligibility assessment; participation.  In the case 
that the individual has been referred to reemployment services and eligibility assessment 
by the Department of Labor, the individual participates in those services, unless the 
department determines there is good cause for the individual's failure to participate. Failure 
to participate in reemployment services and eligibility assessment without good cause 
results in a denial of benefits until the individual participates; and
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§14, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 453, §4, is amended 
by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
An individual may not receive more than 6 weeks of benefits in a benefit year pursuant to 
this subsection unless approved by the Department of Labor.; and
Sec. 3.  26 MRSA §1192, sub-§15 is enacted to read:
15.  Actively seeking work; union hiring hall.  An individual is considered to be 
actively seeking work in accordance with this section if the individual is a member of a 
bona fide labor union, maintains contact with that union and uses and complies with the 
placement services of the union hiring hall in seeking work. As used in this subsection, 
unless the context otherwise indicates, "union hiring hall" means a service provided by a 
labor union or an entity associated with a labor union that places employees with an 
employer under a collective bargaining agreement or otherwise places employees with 
employers.
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 2021, c. 348, §40, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (2) to read:
(2)  If the wages, hours, fringe benefits or other conditions of work are substantially 
less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the 
locality;
Sec. 5.  26 MRSA §1193, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 2021, c. 348, §40, is 
further amended by amending subparagraph (3) to read:
(3)  If, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join 
a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining or maintaining 
membership in any bona fide labor organization;
SUMMARY
This bill establishes that a claimant for unemployment benefits who is a member of a 
bona fide labor union is considered to meet the requirement to actively seek work to 
maintain eligibility for unemployment benefits if that claimant uses and complies with the 
placement services of the union hiring hall in seeking employment. It also adds 
consideration of whether fringe benefits are substantially less favorable than those 
prevailing for similar work in the locality in determining whether work is suitable for 
purposes of the unemployment insurance program. Finally, it provides that work is 
unsuitable for a claimant if acceptance of that work would prevent that claimant from 
maintaining membership in a bona fide labor organization.