Who are the 99ers? We've all probally heard of them by now, but do we really know who these people are? The 99ers are workers that have been displaced in the recession and have yet to find employment.. This group is mainly composed of older workers that have never been unemployed until now. They come from all different walks of life and career paths. Many hold college degrees. They are the victims of age discrimination. Many employers pass these people by for younger less skilled workers that will be in the workforce longer.
99 weeks! You hear alot of people say that is more than enough time to find a job! Well, in a NORMAL economy I would agree. Today we're faced with the highest unemployment rates since The Great Depression. There are 6 people applying for every 1 job. Some places this number is higher, depending on where you live.
Then you have your haters out there, Your Glenn Becks, Ben Steins and Sharon Angles of the world. They say that the unemployed and the 99ers are lazy, bad workers, and to go to McDonalds and get a job! Truth to that is they have not done their homework! I challange each of them to use an alius and apply and see how far they get! Practice what you preach is how I was rasied!
Jobs in the fast food industry are becoming harder if not impossible to come by. Many older workers are not desirable employees to fast food establishments for reasons that they are over experienced, and will leave for a better job if and when the economy improves.
How can we help? We can start holding our government leaders accountable for starters! Everytime a politician spouts off that YOU should take a paycut to get a job, WE should respond with hand written letters, emails, phone calls, signs at labor rallies telling them that they need to set the example, you take a paycut first!. (Mr. Rand Paul let us know how that works out for ya!)
We need to push for legislation that will extend unemployment benefits, address age discrimination, and create jobs! We need to do this by exercising our voices and our votes! We must be persistant with our demands and make these lawmakers know we're not going to settle for anything less!
Please let me bring something to your attention: S.3706, the Americans Want to Work Act, is a bill that will help the 99ers. It's currently in the hands of the Senate Finance Committee, but it won't move forward until the bill is placed onto the Committee's legislative calendar.
ReplyDeleteSenator Baucus, as Chairman, is the legislator most responsible for getting this done: we bloggers should focus efforts on his office, especially including his senior advisers and legislative director.
Second: the other Senators of the Finance Committee need to hear from us. Senator Stabenow, as sponsor, and Senator Schumer, as co-sponsor, need to hear our thanks, and then our urgent need to have their bill placed on the calendar.
Third: the remaining Senators on the Committee, of both parties, need to hear our voices calling for them to co-sponsor and endorse this bill.
Getting S.3706 onto the calendar and reported out of committee are the two most important steps we can support: the bill will die in committee unless we can organize our efforts.
I've been refining the tools we can use to make our point, that S. 3706 needs to be passed, by drafting an "elevator pitch" we can use, as well as a Stat Pack of tables and charts that illustrate the need for the bill.
My goal in the next week is to reach out to as many 99er advocates (like yourself) as I can, because the more of us we can organize, the more effective we'll be. Congress will be in session beginning September 13, and we need to be ready to deliver our message.
Please join me by contacting the members of the Committee, recommending additional advocates I can contact, contributing additional suggestions for action... or sending good thoughts to our fellow 99ers.
Thank you,
Victor
http://helpthe99ers.blogspot.com/