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Chapter 11 - Strikers INTRODUCTION 11.1

This chapter applies only to FS. Households with a striking member are ineligible for FS unless the assistance unit was eligible to receive benefits the day prior to the strike and is otherwise eligible at the time of application. Striker status does not affect TANF or MA eligibility.

LEGAL AUTHORITY 11.2 AREA/TOPIC DISTRICT FEDERAL Strikers FS: 7 USC 2015 (d)(1)(D) (iii)(3); 7 CFR 273.1(g); 7 CFR 273.7(j)

DEFINITION 11.3

A strike is defined as a planned stoppage of work by employees (including a stoppage by reason of the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement), any planned slowdown, or other planned interruption of operations by employees. A striker is anyone participating in a strike. A person on strike is not considered to have quit his/her job. Participating in a strike means an individual has agreed in cooperation with others to stop work. Participation in a strike does not constitute good cause to refuse to seek or accept employment.

There are several situations in which an individual may appear to be a striker but is not considered a striker:

• employees whose workplace is closed by an employer in order to resist demands of employees (e.g., a lockout); • employees unable to work as a result of striking employees (e.g., truck drivers who are not working because striking newspaper pressmen prevent newspapers from being printed); or • employees who are not part of the bargaining unit on strike who do not want to cross a picket line due to fear of personal injury or death.

When determining the eligibility of a group that includes a striker, the applicant's circumstances on the day prior to the strike must be considered.

Eligibility at the time of application shall be determined by comparing the striking member's income before the strike to the striker's current income and adding the higher of the two to the current income of non-striking members during the month of application. To determine eligibility and benefits, deductions shall be calculated for the month of application as for any other household. Whether the striker's pre strike earnings are used or his current income is used, the earnings deduction shall be allowed if appropriate (see Chapter 6: Income Disregards and Deductions in Part VI).

Strikers whose households are eligible to participate will be subject to the work registration requirements unless otherwise exempt (see Section 1.3: Work Requirements in Part V).

A Food Stamp recipient who goes on strike who meets a work registration exemption criterion the day prior to the strike -- other than those exempt solely on the grounds that they are employed -- shall not be deemed to be a striker. This applies even if the group was not receiving Food Stamps on the day prior to the strike.