How you can help your fellow furloughed employees!

usfliboi

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
2,070
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Tell Congressional Leaders to Keep Extended Unemployment Benefits in the Appropriations Bill!



Airline workers have an unemployment rate of approximately 15 percent--nearly three times the national average. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have recognized the special need to assist airline workers who have lost their jobs due to terrorism and the war in Iraq. The Senate appropriations bill includes assistance for furloughed airline workers and the House overwhelmingly passed a motion to instruct conferees to include the Senate''s unemployment benefits in the final legislation.


However, the Bush Administration is fighting against any assistance for laid-off airline workers. The Administration has called Congress'' funding levels for airlines excessive and has asked the conferees to drop any provisions that provide extended unemployment benefits. The Administration has also said, The industry is undergoing a period of fundamental restructuring to align costs and capacity to the demands of the marketplace, and excessive, generalized assistance would only delay and disrupt these inevitable changes. The Administration strongly opposes the provision in the Senate bill that provides extended unemployment insurance benefits to workers who are displaced from the airlines and related industries...To provide benefits to a specific industry would be unusual, unfair and potentially harmful to our national unemployment system.


Congress must stand up for the nearly 200,000 airline workers who have lost their jobs since September 2001 and reject the Administration''s attempt to rob workers of the assistance they desperately need.





Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Representative C.W. Bill Young
Representative Dennis Hastert


Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Keep Extended Unemployment Benefits in the Appropriations Bill

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

As an airline worker and concerned United States citizen, I am writing to urge you to support the Senate''s Murray-Hollings jobless benefits provisions in the supplemental appropriations bill.

Workers in the airline industry have an unemployment rate of approximately 15 percent-nearly three times the national average.

Over 200,000 of our colleagues have already lost their jobs, and many of those who remain have been forced to take significant pay and benefit cuts to keep their companies afloat. Additionally, we have lost 10,000 colleagues due to the war in Iraq.

If Congress does not act immediately to support emergency relief, the airlines are predicting a total of 70,000 job losses and even deeper cuts because of the war. Many will no longer have the ability to pay basic living expenses. If our government does nothing, workers will be forced to bear the expense of the war.

You must support the Senate''s legislation to supply emergency relief to airline workers.

The Senate legislation will assist those aviation workers who will lose their jobs by providing extended unemployment benefits, help for laid-off families to cover health care costs and job re-training assistance. Immediately following the terrorist attacks, Congress provided initial relief to airlines, while turning its back on relief for the workers themselves. Now Congress has the opportunity and moral responsibility to assist aviation workers who will likely be disproportionately affected by a war.

The livelihoods of millions of Americans depend on your assistance and support. Congress must recognize the important role this industry has in every local economy.

Once again, I urge you to support the Murray-Hollings jobless benefits provisions contained in the Senate''s supplemental appropriations bill to provide essential emergency relief for a most critical sector of our great nation''s economy, and the citizens it supports and serves.


Sincerely,
 
Why should the US taxpayer have to keep funding unemployment benefits for airline employees? What makes them so special? Many companies/industries have experienced significant layoffs since 9-11 and they are not getting any special assistance. Your "airline employee prima donna" attitude is exactly why the public could care less about why you are out of a job. The last time I looked in the help wanted pages of the newspapers there were TONS of jobs out there. Maybe its that some airline employees can''t face having to go out and actually work for the first times in their lives. I also can''t support continuing funding of unemployment for airlineemployees because I hear time and time again these same employees say that they are gonna sit around and collect unemployment for a while before they start searching for a new job. Unemployment benefits ARE NOT A TAXPAYERS PAID VACATION! I do wish all the best of luck to those who have lost their jobs, but get off you arses and find a new one, there are plenty of jobs out there, you may not like the jobs but at least they pay the bills.
 
I have to agree with "ex" on this one to a point. I was laid off over a year ago and though things may turn around, in reality my job at US will never be there again, and truth be told, a majority of the people furloughed need to come to that realitization as well.

I took advantage of the extended unemployment benefits granted to us last year, but only because I was in school. If the government were to pass the legislation, it should be a stipulation that to have access to the money, the person should be in school. That is the only situation in which I see the need for the added benefits. My fellow res agents and I have since found employment. Granted, the money is not as good in most instances, but there is no big brother watching you, no weekends, no holidays.. you can actually have a life. So, we work and just enjoy the flight benefits while we have them. There may be some people who have to work two jobs to make it, I was one of them for awhile after I started back to work, but you adjust and move on.

It seems like a lot of the people who post on this board feel as though the government owes them something more because they worked for an airline. I wonder when they too will realize that they are no more special than anyone else and don't need or deserve any special treatment. The entire country and every industry in it was hurt by 9/11, but you don't see other work groups going to the government asking for more and more, McDonalds isn't seeking help because the sales of BigMacs are down.

I wonder if these people also realize they might be a bit happier if they just let go and moved on. It doesn't hurt to stay informed about something you cared about, but there does come a time when you just let go and move on. That is evident even on the message boards, think of all the "posters" who have come and gone over the past year and a half.

I appologize if I seem to be preaching here. However, as a former airline employee and current taxpayer, I say enough is enough. I should not have to pay for someone else to sit at home and wish for the past to come back. I should not have to pay for someone with false hopes and dreams to sit at home and do nothing while I am working everyday. I know it's not going to be a popular point, but myself and a few of my coworkers who are also "former airliners" wrote our congressmen and out senators this morning, urging them to not pass this legislation as there are more pressing issues for them to be concerned with and because the federal budget is already squeezed tight enough.

Our modified version of the letter is here:




Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

As a former airline worker and concerned United States citizen, I am writing to urge you to NOT support the Senate's Murray-Hollings jobless benefits provisions in the supplemental appropriations bill.

Workers in the airline industry have an unemployment rate of approximately 15 percent-nearly three times the national average. However, in times of industry and economical change, it should not be the government’s job to hold the hands of workers and guide them.

Over 200,000 of our colleagues have already lost their jobs, and many of those who remain have been forced to take significant pay and benefit cuts to keep their companies afloat. Additionally, we have lost 10,000 colleagues due to the war in Iraq. While that sounds like something of crisis proportions, it is not. Our country has seen numbers like those loose their employment before in hard times – Steel Mills closing, Auto Factory Closings, Airlines going out of business.

If Congress does act to support emergency relief, what message will it be sending to the rest of the public? Would it be that if you work for a company that can not make sound financial decisions to not worry because the government will be there to save you? The airlines are predicting a total of 70,000 job losses and even deeper cuts because of the war. Many will no longer have the ability to pay basic living expenses based on their current employment situation. It should be their responsibility to make that situation better, not mine as a taxpayer or yours as a representative of our government. The airlines are looking at the war as an excuse to cut the fat, the war itself is not the cause, if it were, things would have been fine up until this point.

If Senate legislation is passed to assist those aviation workers who will lose their jobs by providing extended unemployment benefits, then it should require that the claimant be enrolled in an accredited school of some type. Immediately following the terrorist attacks, Congress provided initial relief to airlines and extended the benefits for unemployment which did indeed assist myself while in school, but enough is enough. Now Congress has the opportunity and moral responsibility to make a statement by not approving this bill, by sending a message to the public reminding them that this is America, the land of opportunities – the land where we take care of ourselves and are responsible for our own future. While these activists who are for this legislation want you to believe that the livelihoods of millions of Americans depend on your assistance and support, it is simply not the case and passing this would open the door for other groups to demand the same. Congress, while recognizing the important role this industry has in every local economy, must not succumb to their demands.

Once again, I urge you to NOT support the Murray-Hollings jobless benefits provisions contained in the Senate's supplemental appropriations bill in the interests of all taxpayers and citizens.


Sincerely,


While we wish you all luck... move on. We made it and so can you!
 
No, the same extension granted last year is still out there. The benefit period was extended once already.
 
Well you have your opinion fortunatly the powers to be dont agree..... House passed the leg now on to senate.Thanks to everyone who supports our fellow employees. Well keep it positive!!!!!!!
 
Bradly -- very good post. The President''s Budget Director opposes the unemployment benefit extension because it is targeted at one industry and sets a precedent. I agree.

I grew up in a blue-collar labor family. I know the stress.

But the unions should be pointing their members toward the future, instead grasping at the past.

For example: US Steel has announced a new labor pact with the USW which combines productivity improvements, profit-sharing and (gasp) workers paying a part of their medical costs. Could you even begin to imagine this happening five years ago?

The war is not the reason for the airlines'' problems.
 
TOPIC :How can you help your fellow furloughed employees?

STOP WORKING THE OVERTIME SO SOME CAN COME BACK !!!
 
How many ceo's mismanaged their company.They should all be held accountable.Take their homes,yachts,cars away from them and give the money back !!!!
 
I am glad to read that at least a few others have some common sense about them and understand what the ramifications could be if this were to pass. Thankfully the Senate has other things to deal with. That fact combined with the distaste that the White House has for the bill should assist in it's demise. It is not a matter of not wanting to help others, it is a matter of how much is enough. The extension granted last year is still out there and available to you. Combining the severance pay with the length of time you are allowed to get unemployment now is long enough.

You must also keep in mind that you can't just sit back and collect it. You must actively seek employment and provide proof of that when you submit your claims. Having been on unemployment while attending school, I still had to look for a job unless I wanted to enroll full time and take out student loans. Your vouchers are always subject to review and from time to time they will verify that you interviewed with a business. It seems that some on here are just looking for an extended tax payer funded vacation, all the while forgetting two important things - Firstly, they also are a taxpayer and it will cost them too (in two ways, their income tax and sales tax contributions and - yes it's true - the taxes taken from your unemployment checks *they aren't tax free*); Secondly,that it is not a six month long free ride.

So while we all have different opinions on some matters, I would think we would have the same on tax matters, and that is that less is better. This legislation would open the door to any group of people wanting more for nothing and the government would have difficulty turning them down after giving in to these groups. That would lead to higher taxes and tax cuts being revoked, why anyone would want that is beyond me
 
Het thanks Stewart, so glad u passed on this info. So sorry that there are so many anti-airline employees posting on here. We shall prevail...Be well...Peace
 
There is a difference between being finacially responsible, fiscally responsible, and fair... and being anti-airline. Perhaps you should re-read some things.
 
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On 4/11/2003 7:22:51 AM exagony wrote:

Why should the US taxpayer have to keep funding unemployment benefits for airline employees? What makes them so special? Many companies/industries have experienced significant layoffs since 9-11 and they are not getting any special assistance. Your "airline employee prima donna" attitude is exactly why the public could care less about why you are out of a job. The last time I looked in the help wanted pages of the newspapers there were TONS of jobs out there. Maybe its that some airline employees can't face having to go out and actually work for the first times in their lives. I also can't support continuing funding of unemployment for airlineemployees because I hear time and time again these same employees say that they are gonna sit around and collect unemployment for a while before they start searching for a new job. Unemployment benefits ARE NOT A TAXPAYERS PAID VACATION! I do wish all the best of luck to those who have lost their jobs, but get off you arses and find a new one, there are plenty of jobs out there, you may not like the jobs but at least they pay the bills.

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Hey Agony,

Here's an EPIPHANY for you......Airline furloughed employees ARE TAXPAYERS.

Spend some of your money and get an education.

And by the by, last time I checked MY PAY STUB DEDUCTION READS PUI DEDUCTION FOR PA!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOO, we all pay for it in case we get unemployed or are unemployed. For me, my job was saved because I have the seniority to hold my job...I am more than happy to have my tax dollars and my deduction out of my pay to contribute to those who have lost their job TO SAVE MINE!
 
Here''s an EPIPHANY for you......Airline furloughed employees ARE TAXPAYERS.

1. They are not anymore - they are TAX BURDENS. When (if) they get a job again they will be tax payers.

Spend some of your money and get an education.

2. I''ll put your pay and mine that not only to I have a much better education than you but I also have alot more real world experience than you. There is a world out side of the airlines - I''ll bet you never experienced it. You obviously must have gone to ACME University( by the way I paid for it myself without any loans or help from ANYONE including ma & pa)

And by the by, last time I checked MY PAY STUB DEDUCTION READS PUI DEDUCTION FOR PA!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOO, we all pay for it in case we get unemployed or are unemployed.

3. You are right, but how many extensions should you get? 10-15? How many? Why don''t we give an extension to Joe Blow who lost his job since 9-11? According to your spin, they don''t rate it because they are not the "airline employee" type. You are just a prima donna airline employee who is thankful that you still have your job because you have no clue what you would do in the real world.

For me, my job was saved because I have the seniority to hold my job...I am more than happy to have my tax dollars and my deduction out of my pay to contribute to those who have lost their job

4. Great, why don''t you and all those who want to keep extending the unemployment benefits for airline employees, just ask the govt to take more taxes out of YOUR paycheck NOT MINE. I already pay enough taxes for hundreds of useless govt social programs I don''t need to pay for lazy arse airline employees who are living in the past.

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