Call on Legislators to Extend Unemployment Benefits Today

Please take action to extend unemployment benefits. Legislators need to begin working on this issue immediately to give workers certainty about their future.

As a result of the global pandemic, Michigan is facing an unemployment crisis worse than any in our lifetimes. Weekly unemployment claims have exploded 1000%. Economists expect the unemployment rate to significantly exceed the 10% level of the Great Recession.

Our economy is in freefall, and working families are going to be hurt the most. Unemployment is particularly impacting low-wage fields like food service and retail, workers who did not have very much cushion to begin with.

Governor Whitmer has shown great leadership by extending unemployment benefits to 26 weeks by executive order. However, we know that this will not be enough. During the last recession, unemployment benefits were extended in 2009 and 2013, eventually providing 99 weeks of benefits. Workers in Michigan will need at least this level of protection to ensure that our families are able to weather this economic storm.

We are calling on state legislators to work with Governor Whitmer to immediately begin the work necessary to extend unemployment benefits.

Further, we are calling on our federal representatives to immediately begin work to provide funding to the states to support extended unemployment insurance. The bail-out packages and stimulus bills have so far provided extensive support to corporations, businesses and industry. However, direct support to workers and families has been insufficient to meet the need.

We must act now to make sure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and leave working families out in the cold.

Sign on now and let your representatives know that you need them to lead on this issue.