JOLIET — Union workers just want to go to work, they aren’t looking for a hand out. That was the message Jan. 17 as U.S. Rep. Bill Foster met with union leaders at Teamsters Local 179 in Joliet to discuss extending emergency unemployment insurance.
“Our economy is still recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and now is not the time to cut off this important safety net,” Foster said.

Dec. 28, 1.3 million people, including more than 80,000 in Illinois and 4,474 in Will County, lost their unemployment benefits when the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program expired. Foster is a cosponsor of H.R. 3546, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2013.

The legislation would renew the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for an additional year, but Congress has stalled on the issue to extend unemployment insurance to the long term unemployed, something union members say they rely upon due to a still struggling job market in the area.

“This should not be a partisan issue. In the past it has not been,” said Foster. “It’s a feature of today’s Republican party, which is very different than the past’s Republican party. In the past, extensions have gone ahead with large bipartisan majorities. Both parties understood the necessity of it. But there’s something about today’s Tea Party dominated Republicans in Congress that simply reject anything that could be construed as a handout to families that are struggling.”

Pat Barcas/staff photographer
Teamsters Local 179 President Tom Flynn (left) speaks with Congressman Bill Foster regarding what can be done to extend unemployment insurance. Dec. 28, federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program expired — it has not been extended by Congress.

It’s estimated that failing to extend unemployment benefits would cost 240,000 jobs in 2014, including 13,345 jobs in Illinois. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office and JP Morgan estimate that failure to extend benefits would lower GDP by .2 to .4 percentage points.

Many at the roundtable say their bread and butter jobs of housing construction still hasn’t bounced back since 2008 or earlier, and they have relied on the local oil refineries to keep a job and put food on the table. But it’s not enough.

Don Moran, Will County Board member and a representative for the Sheet Metal Workers Local 265, said many families today have young children, and traveling in search of work is simply not an option for them.

“I can’t emphasize enough, how important this thing is as a lifesaver to keep themselves afloat, to keep their families afloat. It’s not like somebody is going to take this money and get rich off of it. It’s barely enough money to cover your grocery bill. It’s devastating for people. It’s awful,” said Moran.

“I sit on any committee I can sit on that has anything to do with creating jobs. I don’t want to see one more person walk into my office and say ‘I’m losing my home, I’m losing my family.’ To see what’s happened to people over the last couple of years, it’s awful. Enough is enough,” he explained.