Barney Oursler, director of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, speaks to the crowd gathered in downtown Pittsburgh on March 10, 2021.
Katie Blackley / WESA
‘Answer the phone!’ Unemployed rally for more state assistance
“We can no longer wait for the state to do its job. The unemployment system is broken."
-
Kate Giammarise/WESA
Katie Blackley / WESA
Barney Oursler, director of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, speaks to the crowd gathered in downtown Pittsburgh on March 10, 2021.
(Pittsburgh) — Carrying signs reading, “Answer the Unemployed!” and “Answer the phone,” dozens of unemployed workers and their supporters rallied in downtown Pittsburgh Wednesday morning outside of Gov. Tom Wolf’s regional office, calling for improvements to Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system.
Shortly before the demonstration, the state Department of Labor and Industry announced that 500-1,000 new customer service representatives will be added to the unemployment compensation call center so that experienced existing staff can work on resolving claims.
Not being able to get through to the state Department of Labor and Industry has been a consistent complaint of laid-off workers for months.
Those at the rally said they view the news as a good first step, but far short of what it is needed.
“We can no longer wait for the state to do its job. The unemployment system is broken. It’s been broken a whole year now and we can’t wait any longer,” said Barney Oursler, director of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee.
Katie Blackley / WESA
Elizabeth Stanton, a laid off worker at Carnegie Mellon University, holds a sign at a rally downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
The committee and Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid Group organized the demonstration; another rally took place in Philadelphia as well.
“We’re not …numbers. We’re not percentages… these are people who have to choose between putting food on the table and paying the rent because it’s [unemployment compensation] not coming through,” said Larisa Mednis, a restaurant worker and advocacy organizer at Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid.
Those at the rally cited testimony from earlier this year by the department’s secretary that more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians were still awaiting decisions on their unemployment compensation eligibility, as well as a need for some 2,000 intake workers.
The agency said Wednesday it is working with its call center vendor, InspiriTec, to hire new staff by June, and said it could hire up to 1,000 total new staff “if needed.” The $58.6 million cost will come from federal funding, the department said.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
