Section 2920.68  Payments by a Labor Union

a)         Payments made by a labor union to an individual for picketing at an employing unit's place of business or for conducting negotiations on behalf of the labor union are wages under Section 234 of the Act because the individual is performing a service for the labor union.

EXAMPLE:  A labor union is engaged in a labor dispute with a certain employer.  Because this particular union represents only a small portion of the employer's total work force and because of the vast size of the employer's facility, it is not possible for the union's own members to set up a meaningful picket line at this facility.  For this reason, the union hires non-members to assist in picketing the facility.  Their remuneration constitutes wages under Section 234 of the Act.  However, the union does not pay its own members for picketing; instead, they receive what is called "strike pay".  However, this is money that is available to members to sustain them during the labor dispute and is not tied to the amount of time that they spend on the picket line.  This money is not wages under Section 234 of the Act.

b)         Strike benefits or welfare fund payments made to members of a labor union during a labor dispute in order to sustain the members during the period of the dispute are not wages as they are not payments for services performed for the labor union.

(Source:  Amended at 43 Ill. Reg. 6563, effective May 14, 2019)