Jobless Workers Tell Congress Extend UI Now
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In Joliet, Ill., Marvin says his unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are no substitute for a paycheck, but:
I’m grateful that I have it. I’m able to keep a roof over our heads….I’d like Congress to walk in my shoes for a day.
His story is one of hundreds on a new AFL-CIO website where jobless workers and families are sharing their experiences to spur Congress to extend long-term UI benefits. The program expires Dec. 31 and could cost as many as 6 million people their benefits. Click here to read their stories or share yours.
You also can share the stories on Facebook and via Twitter with the hashtag #extendUI.
With the clock ticking and congressional Republicans delaying action, hundreds of unemployed workers, their allies, community and faith leaders will hold a prayer vigil Thursday, Dec. 8, at 11 a.m. near the U.S. Senate. Read the rest of this entry »
One Union Worker from Omaha Says: We Need ‘Made in America’
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Bill Redler of Omaha, Neb., knows both the hard times of the American construction worker today and the right way forward.
The union plumber, whose first child is on the way, tries not to spend a penny on anything, unless it’s made in America.
“I’ve gotten militant about it, and it turns out that it’s not that hard. We’ve got to quit buying from China. We’ve got to start taxing companies if they want to send jobs to China and then sell products here. That’s the bottom line. We need to be building everything here….Made in America,” he said.
As Unemployment Aid Sets to Expire, Jobless Worker Says: ‘All of Us Need to Stand Together’
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| Terry Maile |
Terry Maile’s supervisor called her into a conference room with all of her co-workers to hear the news: It was their last day of employment at Level 3 Communications in Pittsburgh.
That was it. The jobs were gone to India.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” said Maile, a divorced mother of one, who until that moment had spent her professional life as a telecommunications worker before being laid off first by Verizon and then by Level 3.
Even then, Maile said, she still believed in the American Dream.
You’ve got to work hard… work hard.
Maile owned her own home. Although she had been forced to liquidate her retirement after the Verizon layoff, she had begun to build it back up. Then came the Level 3 layoff. It shook her to her core.
That was my defining moment. I was filling out paperwork, and I couldn’t help it…. I was just crying and crying. I said, ‘They don’t understand…. We’re all interconnected.’
Ten years ago, back when Maile worked at Verizon, she earned $75,000 a Read the rest of this entry »
Ohio Workers Rally to Help the Jobless, Slam Tax Cuts for the Rich
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Ohio AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer Andrew Richards sends us this report.
Braving near single-digit temperatures, dozens of jobless Portsmouth workers rallied outside the office of Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) yesterday to demand she and other congressional Republicans stop using an extension of unemployment insurance (UI) as political leverage to continue tax cuts for the wealthy.
Workers chanted “pass unemployment now” and held signs saying, “We need good jobs now” and “Unemployed held hostage by GOP tax cuts for rich,” as passing cars honked in support.
Republican leaders have blocked action on maintaining the unemployment insurance benefits for long-term jobless that expired Nov. 30. They are holding it and other legislation hostage until they get a vote on extending Bush-era tax cuts. The White House and Republicans have agreed to a deal that includes the tax cuts and a 13-month extension of unemployment insurance. But the deal’s fate is uncertain.
“No one here wants to be unemployed,” said Mitch Lewis, a member of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 575 and currently unemployed. Read the rest of this entry »
Missouri Activists Rally for Jobless
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Cathy Sherwin, AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer in Missouri, sends us this report from St. Louis on yesterday’s Online Day of Solidarity action for jobless workers.
Jobless workers, union members and community activists stood in the freezing cold on Tuesday in St. Louis, joining activists nationwide for a Dec. 7 Day of Action in solidarity with the unemployed.
They urged Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and the Senate to immediately restore unemployment insurance (UI) for a year for the more than 1 million jobless workers currently without any aid since Senate Republicans blocked action to maintain UI benefits for long-term jobless workers.
Right before leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday, a bill to maintain the unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless was defeated in the House. Missouri Republicans Todd Akin, Roy Blunt, Jo Ann Emerson, Sam Graves and Blaine Luetkemeyer voted to deny this critical lifeline to jobless Missourians.
Yesterday, the White House and congressional Republicans announced a deal to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthy, along with a 13-month extension of the UI program for the long-term jobless. But its fate is uncertain. Click here to read AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s statement.
Lloyd Schultz, jobless Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) member from St. Louis, said:
I can’t wait to go back to work. Unemployment insurance is the only thing keeping many of us with a roof over our heads and food on the table this winter.
After Long Battle with Republican Obstruction, Obama Signs Long-Term Jobless Aid
President Obama this evening signed the unemployment insurance extension bill. The legislation will get jobless benefits flowing once again to more than 2.5 million long-term jobless workers who were cut off after Republican Senate filibusters derailed the program.
The legislation cleared its last hurdle today when the House approved the bill 272-152. It extends through November the long-term benefits program for workers who have been jobless for six months or more—nearly 7 million of the nation’s official 15 million unemployed workers.
The Senate was able to break the filibuster, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Tuesday and passed the legislation yesterday. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said:
Senate Breaks Republican Stranglehold on Jobless Help
The U.S. Senate this afternoon broke the Republican blockade of unemployment insurance (UI) for long-term, jobless workers—a blockade that cost more than 2 million unemployed workers their benefits. The U.S. Senate voted 60-40 to end the filibuster led by Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) which all but ensures the bill’s final passage.
The legislation continues the program of UI benefits for workers who have been jobless for six months–nearly 7 million of the nation’s official 15 million unemployed workers. The final vote is expected later today. Says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka:
Finally, the Senate has overcome the final hurdle to provide relief for more than 2 million people who have lost their benefits since Republicans in Congress launched their latest political stall tactics against the jobless. Millions of Americans will have the means to feed their families and pay some bills while they seek work. Read the rest of this entry »
Long-Term Jobless Aid Set for Senate Vote Again, McConnell Vows Filibuster
Here’s some advice for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his Republican colleagues whose obstruction-at-any-price strategy has cost more than 2 million long-term jobless workers their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
It’s time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics. It’s time to do what’s right—not for the next election but for the middle class.
Those words from President Obama today came a little more than 24 hours before the U.S. Senate once again tries to break the Republican blockade on extending the long-term UI that expired June 1 because Republicans filibustered against the bill. Pointing to their preference for helping out the wealthy and Wall Street over extending a hand to working families, Obama says “after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit,” the Republicans
who didn’t have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn’t offer relief to the middle class.
Republicans to Unemployed: ‘Get a Job!’
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As part of Republican obstruction-at-any-cost election year strategy, Senate Republicans last week once again blocked an extension of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for long-term jobless workers. The UI extension is part of the jobs bill that could help put the unemployed back to work.
Some Republicans even said it’s time for ”tough love” to motivate the long-term jobless.
Granted, they are far removed from the day-to-day economic reality of America’s workers. So here’s a reminder: Today, in the United States, there are five unemployed workers for every job opening, an unemployment rate near 10 percent, at least 15 million people out of work and 6.8 million people out of work for 27 weeks or more. Getting a job is not like going down to the corner for a quart of milk.
Wanted: Jobs for 25.5 Million Americans
There’s a lot more that’s frozen in D.C. this week than the usual fallout from a blizzard. The brains of many Senate Republicans are on ice as well. The House passed a jobs bill in December, but the Senate is dawdling, and worse—threatening to pass bits and pieces, taking apart what should be a comprehensive approach to jobs and turning it into minced cabbage. Or, as Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) put it, Democrats shouldn’t advertise the package as jobs legislation
because it’s just extending a bunch of tax policy and related items that we need to do.
