Unemployed Maine workers, advocates warn human suffering will ‘spike’ if $600 benefit expires

Out-of-work Mainers and labor advocates are imploring Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King to back an extension of the federal $600 a week unemployment benefit, warning that if it expires at the end of the month “the thermometer on human suffering will spike immediately.”

“Despite the challenges in accessing unemployment, it has been a lifeline that has kept bread on the table, milk in the fridge, people in their homes and has allowed folks to survive through this pandemic without massive levels of material deprivation,” said Matt Schlobohm, executive director of Maine AFL-CIO, which organized the virtual press conference Friday. 

He said that if Congress lets the supplemental benefit expire on July 31, “thousands of people will immediately land in poverty.”

On May 30, Senate Democrats introduced legislation, the American Workforce Rescue Act, which would extend the expanded weekly benefits and tie its phase-out to when state unemployment rates fall to certain levels. The U.S. House has also passed legislation that would extend the benefit through January.

Auburn resident Heather Finley, who was laid off from her job as a customer service representative with Agren Appliance on April 10, said she’s constantly re-evaluating her family budget and making “contingency plans” in the event that the benefit is cut. 

Her husband, an essential worker, has seen his hours decrease. Finley said they worry the work hours will be further reduced or that their children’s daycare will not re-open in the fall. Finley said she’s done the math for about thirty different scenarios. “I have no idea which way this will go,” she said. “At some point, everyone has got to go for what’s important here, and if our lives are what’s important, you have to support us to be able to live them and keep them. It’s got to be about what’s good for the people of Maine.”

“Before the pandemic, it took two and a half jobs to be able to support our family,” said Finley. “If Congress lets the $600 expire, we might not starve, but I can’t pay for daycare. And I can’t go and find a job when I am taking care of my daughter full-time.” 

Floyd Pope, a single father in Sanford, lost his job at a temp agency in March. Since that time, he has been collecting $140 in unemployment plus the additional benefit. After taxes it amounts to less than $600 a week. 

“With unemployment, I have been able to pay my bills,” he said. “When I lost my income, I was able to work something out with my landlord because I have been a good tenant. But I am not sure what would happen if they took the $600 away from us. I have stayed up late at night worrying about this.”

Pope also said it has been “challenging for me to get work because it’s almost impossible to get daycare.” 

“I look at my kids, and I wonder what is going to happen to us next month,” Pope added. “I am petrified.”

Micki Whelan, a self-employed jewelry maker in Biddeford, said the $600 has enabled her to stay in business and to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic.  

Whelan said the majority of her customers are museum gift shops, which have all closed and cancelled their orders. 

“It’s been a very humbling experience,” Whelan said. “In addition to losing all this business, I have a pretty serious precondition. If I were to get sick, it would be very serious for me. I really do look at this $600 as working in partnership with the government. This is not a handout. This is a support system to keep us safe, to keep us home, and to keep us as healthy as possible.”

James Myall, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said that just under 89,000 Mainers are relying on unemployment compensation benefits.

The hardest hit by unemployment have been women and people of color, Myall noted. While one in seven Maine workers are receiving unemployment, one in six women workers are relying on it. One in five Black and one in five Latinx workers are also collecting unemployment.

“Quite simply,” Myall said, “if Congress fails to act, Maine and its people will face an economic cliff. Tens of thousands of Mainers will be plunged into poverty, especially our most vulnerable communities. Economic activity will slow further, creating more layoffs, and more shuttered businesses. Maine cannot wait. Congress must act now.”

Photo: Micki Whelan, a self-employed jewelry maker in Biddeford, speaks about the anticipated hardship if Congress ends the $600 weekly unemployment benefit. | Screenshot