Sign Language Interpreter: “I work day and night to make ends meet.” Read her story. |
School Employees are the only seasonal workers prohibited by California state law from collecting unemployment.
This needs to change.
We pass hurdle toward winning Summer Unemployment Insurance!
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| Our colleague, Salvin Special Ed Center Health Care Asst. Jim Lira, traveled to Sacramento April 23 to testify on AB1638 (the Summer Unemployment Insurance bill) before the Assembly Insurance Committee.Jim really put a face on the issue! After he spoke, the Committee voted 9 to 2 (unanimous Democratic support) in favor of the bill. |
The dedicated school employee of SEIU Local 99 are part of a team of bus drivers, campus safety officers, cafeteria workers, custodians, teaching assistants, and many more who make sure our children learn in a clean, safe, and healthy environment. Nearly half of us are parents of school age children. We work in our public schools because we believe all children deserve access to a quality education.
We are proud of the role we play in student learning.
Despite our contributions, school employees in California are the only workers who are denied the opportunity to receive unemployment insurance benefits in the summer months when work is not available.
- School employees are the only seasonal workers who are excluded.
— Hollywood writers,
— Sports stadium employees,
— Farm workers,
— Retail employees, and
— Other seasonal employees
…are all eligible for unemployment benefits during their seasonal break periods. - Finding other work for the break period is virtually impossible. Hiring managers don’t want to hire and invest in employees who will only be working for two to three months.
- Being excluded from unemployment benefits creates serious financial hardship. Our families are seriously affected as we juggle rent, food, utilities, and other basic bills during the difficult summer months. Many of us earn less than $15,000 annually.
In 2013, we introduced a bill in the state legislature to ensure school employees can receive unemployment benefits in the summer. For the first time ever, we brought this issue directly to legislators and made them aware of how dedicated school workers must struggle in the summer. The bill is not yet a law. It continues in the legislative process and in 2014 we’re going to step up our efforts to move it forward. We’re starting fresh with a new bill number that was assigned: AB1638.
Take Action!
Sign our Change.org petition. Click on the link below.
Let’s work together to pass AB1638!
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Sign the Change.org petition and tell Governor Brown to support AB1638
