WORKING

OF AND
RELATING TO
LABOR


FREE MONEY
But More Importantly, Unemployment Compensation
is a Shield Against Poverty. Here's How to Get It.

by Doug Collins
The Free Press


In most cases, if you lose your job, you can receive unemployment compensation of up to 70 percent of your previous wage for about a half year, and feel financially secure while you look for a new job in your accustomed occupation.
So why do only about a third of Americans who lose their jobs get unemployment?
One reason is that many unemployed Americans prefer living by the bootstrap. They run up their credit cards, and, once they're absolutely desperate, often settle for a job in a lower-paying occupation.
Filing unemployment applications and other paperwork also scares away some people. And if you make a mistake on your forms, or give information which initially disqualifies you, you might receive some rather nasty-sounding letters from the Employment Security Department. But these letters are often nowhere near as serious as they are worded, and in most cases your claim is easy to adjust.
One real problem is that in the United States, if you quit or are fired from a job, it can be difficult or impossible to get unemployment, which certainly disqualifies a large number of people. Still, if you were fired for reasons other than work-related misconduct, or if you quit for good reason, you might have a chance, at least in Washington state.
Mark Schultz, a student in Seattle, was not so lucky a few years ago, when he was fired from a job in a construction firm. After having his initial claim denied, Schultz appealed. At the appeal hearing, "The boss had legal counsel. Some people in the company wrote letters about me. It wasn't fair because it was a small company and the employees might have felt under pressure to write letters....They exaggerated and fabricated stories about me"
Indeed, any company has a fiscal motive to falsely claim employee misconduct, and therefore disqualify employees from getting unemployment: the more its former employees use the unemployment compensation system, the more state taxes the company has to pay.
Part-timers also have a harder time in most states. In Washington, you must have worked at least 680 hours in your previous "base year" in order to qualify for any compensation. In some occupations, such as community college teaching, you may be able to get by with fewer hours if special preparation is needed outside your normal work hours.
Pamela Crone of the Unemployment Law Project in Seattle laments that "there are not many advocates for the claimant." Bosses can easily afford legal representation in disputes, and employer lobby groups can more easily ply Olympia for cuts in benefits. Crone's organization, which is chiefly funded by labor unions, seeks to address this imbalance as much as possible, and gives good advice as well as representation in some cases.

Exhibit A.

Compare our system to unemployment in other countries. Ole Busck of the Denmark General Workers' Union remarked in the Labor Party Press (January 1997) that "we [Danes] get 60 to 70 percent of our wage from the state for five years.....at the same time, the government gives workers lots of resources, like offers for education and training. The government has to make an action plan for each idle individual."
Special qualifications for unemployment in European countries are very few. Nearly everyone who loses a job, fired or not, full-time or part-time, gets the benefits. Even students straight out of school who haven't worked yet. This has practically eliminated serious poverty in many countries, and helps keep families and lives stable.
Although American workers have a higher hill to climb in applying for unemployment, some pointers below can perhaps help you achieve a greater degree of security in your life after you get the pink slip in Washington state.

Know the Basics

Apply as soon as possible after you lose your job. If you delay applying, you may still qualify for benefits, but you can't get paid retroactively. Your claim lasts for one year. If you find a new job and get laid off again, you can probably reopen your claim fairly easily.
Keep your eye on the big picture. A few hours at the Employment Security Office, filling out forms, sometimes dealing with nasty-sounding mail, and making three job contacts a week, can result in thousands of dollars of compensation.
On your application and other forms, you must agree to search for full-time work. Also, you may be disqualified as long as you are not available for all shifts. You need only look for jobs similar to your accustomed occupation.
You must be available for work each day that you claim. If you are on vacation and unavailable for work for some days, you are legally required to note this on your biweekly claim form. You will not be paid for the days you were unavailable.
Claimants must make three contacts a week. This doesn't mean job interviews, but simply phone calls, visits to personnel departments, or reumes sent. These contacts must be "in person", meaning that a call to a recorded job line, or a search through the want ads does not qualify. Keep dated notes of your job contacts in case your claim is ever challenged.
Recently, Washington's Employment Security Department has instituted an automated phone-in system for claims and other matters. Avoid this system if you can, and also avoid trying to clear up problems by mail. From first-hand experience, I'd say the old-fashioned method works a lot better: mail in your claim forms and go directly to the office if you have problems.
It's perhaps better to keep your sights on a full-time job which you are comfortable with. If you take a hasty part-time job, you may still get partial unemployment compensation, but if you quit or are fired from the new job, you may risk losing all your unemployment benefits. A similar danger occurs with temp work. If you are registered with a temp agency and you refuse an offer of work even just for one day, your whole eligibility for unemployment might be questioned.







Northwest Folklife, Labor Movement Team Up

Folk music grew out of the experiences and struggles of common people, and told tales of struggle and triumph over adversity. This year, Seattle's Northwest Folklife festival, to be held May 23-26, will get back to the music's roots with the adoption of a labor theme.

Folklife events will be held in conjunction with a Labor Arts and History festival, and the 29th Annual Labor History Conference, which will also take place at Seattle Center.
The same weekend, various citizens and scholars will explore labor's history and its future at a teach-in on The Future of Labor, which will be held at the University of Washington May 22 and 23. Friday will consist of a series of workshops including topics such as immigration, the environment and labor, race and labor, gender issues, and organizing tactics and strategy.
The events are co-sponsored by the UW's Center for Labor Studies, the King County Labor Council, the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, and Rise Up! Productions, with help from the Washington State Labor Council.

For more information contact Aaron Spitzer at the Center for Labor Studies, Box 353530, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, (206) 543-7946, pcls@u.washington.edu

- Mark Gardner







Working Around

BORDERS BOOKS. The IWW has been picketing Borders bookstores around the country for the firing of Miriam Fried, an employee who had been involved in a union organizing drive at the Philadelphia store. According to management, Fried was fired for accepting a customer's check without an address. The union suggests calling Borders at 1-800-644-7733 and asking them to reinstate Fried. The office you reach may refer you to a special "complaint number" in charge of telling you the "other side of the story". To get involved with the IWW locally call 206/935-9012.

CALIFORNIA. A class-action suit on behalf of Albertson's employees has been given the go ahead by the Federal District Court in San Francisco. The grocery workers are charging that the company illegally allows off-the-clock work and discourages workers from seeking pay for the extra time. The federal ruling could help similar attempted suits in Washington state and Florida.



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Contents on this page were published in the March/April, 1997 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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