workers short of retirement eligibility face a brutal job market.
Fontyn, who lost her 7-year job as a billing clerk in a medical facility
last year, said that she and other jobless workers her age are
“devastated” when they learn that they lack the high-tech skills to
compete against younger, more savvy job candidates. Some of those on the
outside track even lack the basic computer knowledge to engage in the
21st Century version of a job search, which is a job itself.
“You send resume after resume, you send mail, you call … and it’s not like you can also juggle two part-time jobs at the same time” that pay $8 an hour and
offer no benefits, said the Clinton Township resident.
participated in an effort by U.S. Rep. Sander Levin to produce a video
about the impact of Congress’ decision to end unemployment benefit
extensions, effective Saturday.
That move will immediately cut off unemployment compensation for 1.3
million Americans, 43,000 jobless workers in Michigan, and 4,100 people
in Macomb County. Those numbers will grow throughout 2014.
By telling the stories of the stubbornly unemployed workforce, Senate
and House Democrats hope to revive the issue on Capitol Hill in January
and make a 1-year extension of benefits retroactive.
who previously worked 25 years as a dental assistant, said she recently
learned that she does not qualify for subsidized Obamacare health
insurance coverage, so she is applying for Medicaid as the Dec. 28 end
of her unemployment checks approaches.
“What am I going to do after the 28th? Pray a lot,” she said, trying to hold back tears.
in 2008 must come to an end after five years. In addition to the cost,
GOP lawmakers argue that the continuous extensions beyond the basic 26
weeks of unemployment checks offered by the states – 20 weeks in
Michigan – are creating a dependency on government among the long-term
unemployed.
House and Senate Democrats counter that jobless workers still outnumber
each job opening by a three-to-one margin. With the nation facing record
long-term unemployment , Democrats maintain that the current 47-week
maximum is similar to other supplemental unemployment insurance programs
that were maintained in the past when the nation’s jobless rate was
much lower than the current 7.8 percent level – 8.8 percent in Michigan.
in front of the camera said that living on unemployment is far from a
luxury and that engaging in wide-ranging job searches daily in a highly
competitive market is a job within itself.
One man said he often stays online tapping into possible leads until 1
a.m. A woman said she lost her job as a school bus driver, due to a
privatization process initiated by her school district, one year short
of qualifying for a pension. So, she is desperately seeking a job that
falls within the state’s school retirement fund so her years of service
are not wasted.
DiAnn Fairfield of Fraser, who lost her longtime job as a tooling
designer, said she has spent-down most of her savings after eight months
of unemployment. She is now preparing to liquidate her retirement
savings.
“I don’t make enough on unemployment to make a living. It’s not like I’m
sitting back and waiting,” Fairfield said. “I … want Washington to
know, we’re not numbers. We’re real people. I shouldn’t have to spend
the rest of my life hoping for a semi-decent retirement.”
Levin said that the 1.3 million people who will be discarded from the
unemployment rolls at the end of the week, if they stood
shoulder-to-shoulder, would create a line from Washington to Lincoln,
Neb.
• Guy Kaercher of Warren, who was hired in the tool and die industry
after serving four years in the U.S. Navy during the 1991 Desert Storm
incursion, is now living in a Roseville shelter after seeing his job
eliminated. “I’m a homeless vet. I lost everything. I lost my house. I
hit rock bottom and I have nothing left,” he said.
Kaercher: “That’s a damn shame. This man puts his life on the line and
this is how he is treated?” A former library assistant at Cooley Law
School, Franczak said he will be losing his $166 weekly unemployment
check as he tries to maintain the $654 monthly mortgage payment on the
home he inherited from his mother. “Retirement and pensions are not even
in my vocabulary,” the jobless worker in his mid-50s said, explaining
the reluctance he faces on job interviews due to his age. “I just want
to stay alive. I just want to keep a roof over my head.”
professional in logistics, including the last 13 years at a major
university, until he lost his job in the summer due to downsizing. Since
then, he has received a number of job interviews but no offers. White
put several of his children through college and his youngest is a
freshman at Michigan State University. But with the impending end of his
unemployment compensation, he has mapped out an 8-month household
cost-cutting plan that includes eating just one meal per day.
Democratic lawmakers, will be converted into short and long videos that
will be distributed for use on cable TV, online and for circulation by
email.
