Lawmakers Call for Reinstatement of Jobless Benefits to Seasonal Workers

September 14th, 2012

A group of state lawmakers is calling for Georgia’s labor commissioner to reinstate unemployment benefits for seasonally unemployed teachers and bus drivers.

In a joint press conference, members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and the Georgia Working Families Caucus said the commissioner had no right to unilaterally suspend the benefits earlier this year.

State Senator Emanuel Jones of DeKalb County said they belong to workers.

“The money is already there. Their employers have already paid into the trust fund. We’re simply asking the commissioner to do what’s been done for the past 30 years and restore those benefits for those workers who have already earned those benefits.”

Currently, Commissioner Mark Butler is defying the federal labor department by refusing to reinstate the benefits. Butler has said if regular public school employees don’t get jobless benefits, then contracted workers shouldn’t get them either.

But Sandra Stimson, who represents about 700 school bus and transit workers for Teamsters Local 728, said these contract workers can’t survive without them.

“We’ve had people who have lost their cars, evicted from their homes, people who have gone into foreclosure.”

Commissioner Butler could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Labor rejected the state’s legal reasoning for denying the benefits. The state has since sent the federal government a new legal position, which is under review.

State Representative Virgil Fludd of Tyrone, Georgia says the delay has gone on long enough. He’s calling on the commissioner to restore the payments immediately.

“I guess if you were making a nice state salary you can afford to take three or four months off without pay. But for people who are making barely minimum wage, this creates a huge problem in a state already with a terrible unemployment problem.”

State labor officials estimate there are about 4,000 bus drivers, pre-k teachers, landscapers, janitors, and crossing guards that have filed or will file related claims.