RECORD NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMS REMIND US THAT ‘PEOPLE ARE OUR ECONOMY’
Congress must give all workers peace of mind
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor released data today that shows a staggering 3.3 million workers filed unemployment insurance claims in the last week as a result of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. That would be as if every single worker in the city of Chicago was laid off at once.
Congress will soon negotiate a fourth stimulus package. The package needs to focus on providing critical support to all workers, regardless of their immigration status or type of work. Legislators must expand who receives unemployment insurance to make sure all workers have access in this unprecedented time of uncertainty. This means dramatically increasing unemployment insurance benefits to ensure 100% of income replacement for the duration of this crisis, expanding cash payments to all households, ensuring everyone has access to free COVID 19 testing and treatment, expanding paid leave and full inclusion of all of these resources to everyone, regardless of immigration status.
Community Change Action Vice-President Dorian Warren released the following statement in response to the numbers: “Today’s staggering unemployment numbers remind us that people make up our economy. The millions of restaurant workers who keep small businesses humming, the women, especially women of color, who care for our children so parents can focus on their jobs, the domestic workers who clean our homes and the buildings where we work that are now shut down, these are the real economic drivers. Millions of families are struggling right now, but Congress has the salve to give all workers peace of mind. Because no one should be forced to choose between risking their health and going to work so they can make money to pay a bill or have enough food to eat or staying home and going hungry or getting evicted. Now is the time for Congress to show that the people who make our economy move and grow matter more than the corporations or the rich CEOs making money off their backs. This pandemic will touch all of us and we must make sure to leave no one behind as we provide immediate relief and lay the groundwork for a long term economic recovery.”
###
Community Change Action is a national social justice organization that builds the power of low-income people, especially people of color.