Who’s On Our Side?
By Tom Chamberlain
E
Season’s
Greetings
conomists tell us that the reces-
sion officially ended in 2009.
But for over 25 million Americans
who are underemployed or can’t find
work, the recession has become a de-
pression. Folks who have been un-
employed longer than 99 weeks
(about 22 months) have exhausted
their unemployment benefits. More
likely than not, they live with family,
friends or are homeless. Over 40 per-
cent of the unemployed have been
looking for work for over two years
— the longest length of time since
1948.
The impact of joblessness can
been seen every day in the streets of
every U.S. city, where hard-working
Americans have fallen through our
social safety net into a hardknock
lifestyle of homelessness.
Oregon has the highest child
hunger rate in the country.
As the “99ers” who have ex-
hausted their benefits sit without any
help, wondering where to turn, the
unemployed who are receiving bene-
fits may need to start worrying, too.
Congress is playing political games
— posturing for the next election
rather than finding funding to ensure
that unemployment insurance bene-
fits continue to be available at all.
The unemployment insurance
program extension is scheduled to
expire at the end of 2011 and what in
the past has been a simple renewal-
has become a political game.
Without the extension, 32,000
Oregonians will lose their UI bene-
fits. Unemployment benefits stimu-
late the economy. Think about what
you buy when you’re unemployed:
your money goes immediately into
the economy, purchasing food and
other essentials, or it keeps you in
your house. Failure to extend UI ben-
efits will result in a loss of income in
Oregon communities of $9,082,568
per week. Our economy grows by $2
for every dollar spent on UI benefits.
As of this writing, every member
of the Oregon Congressional delega-
tion, save one, supports extending the
UI program immediately. Rep. Greg
Walden is the exception.
Walden represents District 2 in
Southern, Central, and Eastern Ore-
gon. District 2 has been hit harder by
the recession than any other area in
the state. Unemployment is over 2
points higher than the state average.
Bend has one of the highest home
foreclosure rates in the country.
Walden will support the extension
of UI benefits to help his district, but
only if the cost is offset by budget
cuts elsewhere. With so much human
distress in District 2, it’s hard to un-
derstand why Walden is demanding
that an extension be tied to a political
goal at all, let alone to cuts that will
most likely come from the very so-
cial programs that our rural commu-
nities need to survive.
Dec. 10 was International Human
Rights Day, which we often mark by
talking about the right to organize, or
the plight of workers in other coun-
tries. This year, we chose to mark the
day by talking about unemployment
— and the need to extend unemploy-
ment insurance benefits.
There is a political connection be-
tween these issues: the same corpo-
rations and corporate shareholders
who moved jobs overseas, crashed
the economy, and demanded a
bailout are now calling for massive
budget cuts. Unemployment insur-
ance is tied up in their call for budget
cuts and they aren’t letting it go.
They still aren’t on our side.
Could Congressman Walden be
on our side? If we want him to
change his mind, he needs to hear
from the hard-working families in
Congressional District 2. Explain to
him the importance of the unemploy-
ment extension, the impact of losing
over $9 million per week from our
economy, and what that will do to
your family. Explain to him that he
needs to be on his constituents’ side.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
from the Officers, Representatives
and Office Staff of
Machinists
District W24
Lodge 63 in Gladstone, Lodge 1005 in Gladstone,
Lodge 1432 in Gladstone, W12 in Klamath Falls,
W246 in Springfield, W261 in Central Point,
W2 in Aberdeen, W38 in Shelton,
W130 in Centralia, W157 in Tacoma,
W536 in Longview, W98 in Arcata, California,
W364 in Lewiston, Idaho,
Local 88 in Butte, Montana
International Association of
Machinists & Aerospace Workers,
Woodworkers,
AFL-CIO
PAGE 14
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
DECEMBER 16, 2011