Desperate And Unemployed: Thousands Beg For Unemployment Extensions

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Nov 8, 2008
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“99ers” have exhausted 99 weeks of unemployment benefits - latimes.com

Desperate And Unemployed: Thousands Beg For Unemployment Extensions

Karl Schafer says he has tried for hundreds of jobs since he was laid off from a truck factory more than two years ago. Still waiting to get hired, the 52-year-old Ohio man has suffered the indignity of applying for food stamps and asking his elderly mother for help.

Weary of her own job search, former customer service representative Wagma Omar, 40, of Mission Viejo is thinking about applying for a dangerous civilian job in Afghanistan.

And in California's wine country, Kay Stephens, 56, is frantically looking to cut her living expenses so her unemployment doesn't become a burden to her 30-year-old daughter.

Schafer, Omar and Stephens are among the increasing number of unemployed Americans whose burdens just got heavier: They've exhausted their 99 weeks of jobless benefits and must now figure out how to get by on ever more meager resources.

In California, state officials estimate there are nearly 100,000 people who are still looking for work but can no longer draw an unemployment check. Federal labor officials could not provide a number nationally, but private-sector experts say it could easily top 1 million.

What is certain is that, as the jobless rate remains stubbornly high, more Americans will have to face the challenge of making ends meet without a monthly check.
"People are going off a cliff and we're not really doing anything about it," said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project. "That's not great public policy."

Once unemployment benefits run out, people are eligible for general relief — but that pays a maximum of $221 a month in Los Angeles County, compared with as much as nearly $2,000 a month for unemployment. Only workers with dependent children are eligible for welfare.

Worried that they could lose their homes and get put out on the street, thousands of "99ers," as they call themselves, are banding together to agitate for another extension. On Friday they're kicking off a "Mayday SOS" campaign, faxing and e-mailing Congress their resumes, along with pleas for more benefits.
 
Discrimination against the unemployed...
:eek:
Job ads discriminating against unemployed applicants outlawed
Thursday, March 31, 2011, A law prohibiting New Jersey employers from placing job ads that require applicants to be currently employed will go into effect June 1.
Gov. Chris Christie signed the bill this week after a back-and-forth with the legislature earlier this year over language he considered “vague and confusing.” The bill was introduced in October and is the first of its kind in the country. An amended version passed both houses last week.

Under the law, a company will be fined $1,000 if any job posting says it will only consider candidates who are employed or will not review submissions from currently-unemployed applicants. The penalty jumps to $5,000 for a second violation and $10,000 for subsequent violations, according to the law

The bill was drawn up after several legislators were concerned to discover some employers were running ads that said only people who are currently employed could apply for the open positions.

Job ads discriminating against unemployed applicants outlawed | NJ.com
 
I have a friend who is a certified business continuance planner (IT) who was laid off from my co., hired by State of Tx. but got laid off due to budget cuts, could not find work for a year, and got trained to be a TSA airport security inspector. He gets 25 hours per week until a full time job opens. He was told his resume was not being considered during the year he was not working, because he was unemployed!!! What's with that?
 
they should all go become computer programmers and engineers. After all, that IS what right wingers insist is the panacea for their unemployment. They'd have their jobs if they were willing to work for fifty cents an hour.
 
They make it sound so easy...just go back to school. Well, who is going to pay the bills, and support my children while I'm getting this education. I'm working two jobs now, one full and the other part time, where do I find the time for this schooling? I suppose if I wanted to loose what health benefits I have left, go in debt up to my ass, deny my kid a hand in paying for his college, and put my home in financial jepardy I could go back to school for a two year degree that will allow me a job in a field where I might make slightly more than I do now.

I don't think people get it, there is no point in going back to school if the training you get does not put you in a better position. For example...If you make $10 an hour now, and than you quit so you can get an education, go in debt for this degree, so you can make $13 an hour doesn't quite make sense.
 

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