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Part IV (Unemployment benefit)

1. Article 24 in conjunction with Article 69(i) of the Convention. Section 44, subsection 1(b), of the Social Security Act of 1986 - amending section 19 of the Social Security Act of 1975 - provides that an employed earner who has withdrawn his labour in furtherance of a trade dispute but does not fall within section 44, subsection 1(a), is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefit for any day on which his labour remains withdrawn (Endnote 1). Since, under Article 69(i) of the Convention, unemployment benefits may be suspended where the person concerned has lost his employment as a direct result of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute, inter alia, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide detailed information on the practical implementation of subsection 1(b) of section 44 of the Social Security Act of 1986, providing, in particular, examples of cases where this provision has been applied.

2. Furthermore, the Committee takes note of a certain number of proposals to modify unemployment benefits, communicated by the Government in its twenty-first report on the application of the European Code of Social Security. Since some of these modifications might have an impact on the conditions for entitlement to, or maintenance of, unemployment benefits, the Committee hopes that the Government will endeavour to ensure that the new provisions adopted in this area do not affect the application of Part IV (Unemployment benefit) of the Convention. It would be grateful if, in its next report, the Government would provide detailed information on the implementation of these modifications, along with a copy of the newly adopted provisions. ENDNOTES Endnote 1

Under section 44, subsection 1(a), of the Social Security Act of 1986, an employed earner who has lost employment as an employed earner by reason of a stoppage of work due to a trade dispute at his place of employment is disqualified from receiving unemployment benefit for any day during the stoppage unless he proves that he is not directly interested in the dispute (subject to the provisions of subsection 2).