By Edward Gorham

President

Maine AFL-CIO

In January an estimated record high of 375,000 jobless workers exhausted their unemployment benefits. An estimated 2 million such workers will find themselves facing the same economic disaster during the first six months of this year.

Some 6,445 of these workers exhausting such benefits before July will be in Maine.

What is Congress and the Bush Administration planning to do to help these working families? Nothing.

In a sense this is surprising because in this election year the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has done a study that shows unemployment benefits will run out for large numbers of workers in key political states such as Michigan (88,328 workers) Pennsylvania (90,830), Indiana (46,746), North Carolina (61,596), South Carolina (27,741) – to say nothing of New York (157,093) and California (314,344).

In 2002 Congress voted twice to give unemployed workers an additional 13 weeks of benefits but this year they let the program expire just before Christmas. Why?

Congress, or more accurately the Republican congressional leadership, said another extension was not necessary because the economy is gaining strength and job growth is just around the corner.

These rosy predictions ignore the hard reality facing unemployed working families in Maine and the nation. The fact is that in no other month on record and in no other six month period for which data is available have so many workers exhausted their regular unemployment benefits without being able to received additional assistance.

This finding is true even if the totals are adjusted to compensate for increases in the total size of the U.S. workforce. Even after making such adjustments, the number of workers exhausting benefits in January is two and a half times higher than the average January from 1973 to 2003.

There will be harsh consequences for this unnecessary, illogical and callous Republican decision.

Surveys show that more than half of these workers and working families will have to cut back on food and more than half will postpone medical and/or dental treatment.

This bad news follows a U.S. Department of Agriculture report last October that 12 million American families are worried about being unable to buy food and 32 percent of these families had gone without food. This was the third consecutive year that these totals increased.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau 34.6 million Americans lived in poverty in 2002 – an increase of 1.7 million over 2001.

Being jobless for a significant period quickly puts a working family on the road to poverty. Not only are the hard numbers of unemployed discouraging but also the total time workers are out of work when they lose a job is at a very high level. The average length of unemployment has risen to 19 weeks – the highest level in 20 years.

The continuing political debate and Republican refusal to help simply cannot erase the fact that three million jobs have been lost since President Bush took office. Of these lost jobs 2.5 million where in manufacturing.

Maine has been hit harder in this area than any other state. From July 2000 until August 2003, Maine lost 17,800 manufacturing jobs, or 22.1 percent, the greatest percentage loss of any state.

One might understand the existing situation if business was broke. The fact is that this so called “recovery” is a business recovery – not a recovery for working Americans. Nine million workers are still looking for work, more than in any other post war recovery. Rebounding corporate profits are not being shared with workers.

In the average recovery over the last 50 years employees got 61 percent of corporate income growth and corporations 26 percent. In this recovery the figures are reversed. Corporations are getting a lion’s share of the income growth and only 29 percent is going to workers.

One might also understand the situation if there was no money for unemployment benefits but the Associated Press reports (as of January 29) that the U.S. Unemployment Trust Fund stands at $20 billion.

Continuing the present program for six months would benefit 2.2 million unemployed workers and working families. Providing an additional 13 weeks of benefits, as has been done in virtually every similar recession in the past, would help more than 4 million unemployed. And studies show it would also boost the national economy since these families must immediately spend the money on food, rent, transportation and other necessities.

It is ironic that the program and the billions of dollars in the national fund were created by Congress specifically to deal with exactly the type of situation that now exists. The only roadblock is wealthy congressmen who have no worries about food, heat or medical care.

Congress should reconsider its failure to act to help these millions of unemployed workers who have gone months without being able to find work. It is only expected that the Bush Administration would side with large corporations but the failure of Congress to act is surprising – after all, corporations don’t vote.