How I Benefited from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

By Babs Nelson

When I was 52 years old the company where I had worked as an Administrative Assistant for 8½ years went through its third “downsizing” and I lost my job. Over the next 4 years, I worked sporadically in temporary assignments and was unable to find permanent employment. I hit my low in 2006 when a combination of poor financial decisions and the Hoarding aspect of my Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder led to the loss of the condo I had rented for 9 years. I stayed in a shelter, and after that eye-opening experience, I was lucky to be accepted by a women’s residence operated by the Volunteers of America (VOA). While there, I rejoined the world of regular 8:00 to 5:00 workers. Unfortunately, due to my perfectionism, I was not a good fit and was let go after 10 months. The VOA home closed, but I was able to move into another VOA residence that provides transitional housing for homeless women.

In November of 2009, I visited Bayaud Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that helps those with disabilities or other barriers to employment, such as homelessness, find work. Just over a week later, I was hired as the Assistant Instructor for their General Office Skills Training program. Initially, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded the position, and later, Bayaud hired me directly. I find the work extremely rewarding as I help students learn necessary skills, including: typing, computer programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, communication, and self esteem. I also sit on the Bayaud Homeless Advisory Council that works to ensure Bayaud successfully supports our homeless clients. I no longer take any blessings for granted and am grateful for each day and thankful that Recovery Act helped me reach economic security and is helping to strengthen the middle class.

Are you a 9to5 member yet ?!?

February 1st marked the kickoff of 9to5’s Nationwide Membership Drive! Over the next four months, 9to5 members across the country will be telling family, friends, and coworkers why they care about working women’s issues – and inviting them to join our movement by becoming a member of 9to5.

On average, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. If there was ever a time to join the movement to improve women’s lives at work, it’s now!

When you become a member of 9to5, your contribution supports our grassroots organizing efforts to win change on issues such as paid sick days and family-friendly workplace policies, as well as help continue the work of programs like our Job Survival Helpline and our leadership training workshops for low-wage working women.

Becoming a member of 9to5 connects you to a nationwide network of women and activists who care about working women’s issues. It also empowers you to become an agent of change on the issues that directly impact your life.

As a member of 9to5, you will:

• Be invited to local, regional, and national leadership conferences
• Participate in trainings to develop your leadership, organizing, advocacy and fundraising skills
• Receive action alerts on state and national legislation to expand workplace rights and family-friendly policies
• Be connected with working women, activists, and resources across the country

Ways to join:

• $15 reduced membership rate during the drive
• $25 membership plus a 9to5 t-shirt ( featured in the picture)
• Give an additional scholarship membership donation to help low-wage working women become members

How to join:

• Click here to visit the membership page on the 9to5 website.
• Visit our Facebook Causes page to join and donate – it couldn’t be easier!

Attacking Wisconsin’s Middle Class

Media coverage of Madison’s thousands of demonstrators has focused on Governor Scott Walker’s attempt to strip public employees of collective bargaining rights. Members of 9to5, Association of Working Women have stood with those calling for fairness for working families. But it’s clear that governor and conservative state legislators’ agenda is bigger than just union busting. To benefit their corporate masters, they are determined to deny the American Dream to the vast majority of Wisconsinites.

Public workers don’t make big bucks but they are the backbone of the middle class. They are teachers who tutor struggling students so they’re prepared for college, vocational school or a trade. They are police and firefighters who protect us when the unthinkable happens. They are nurses who vaccinate children so we no longer have polio and diphtheria epidemics. They are $9.00/hour home health care workers helping individuals live in their homes with dignity. They keep the economy humming by paying their mortgages, buying groceries and purchasing clothes items that keep our Main Street small businesses afloat.

Throughout the years, public employees and their unions have accepted lower paychecks to defer money to their pensions and health care. Despite this, they’ve agreed to wage and benefit concessions to help do their share in balancing the state budget.

In sharp contrast to their “jobs, jobs, jobs” campaign promises, Wisconsin Republicans are pushing tax breaks to corporations and the rich that will decimate the state’s budget revenue. To pay for their millionaire friends’ favors, they propose to cut already stretched-thin funding for education, police, firefighters and human services, all provided by public employees.

In a now-public recorded call to Gov. Walker in which a journalist pretended to be anti-union billionaire David Koch, the men discuss plans to threaten public workers with layoffs, attempts to divide public and private sector unions, and their hope that their anti-union efforts could spread nationwide.

Let’s be clear: This showdown is NOT about balancing the state budget. It’s about union busting, pure and simple. The upshot of these efforts is to take away power and family-supporting jobs from working families.

Meanwhile, Gov. Walker and allied legislators have launched other attacks on all working families in both the public and private sectors. Their budget gives themselves the power to slash health care – a key middle class support – for the 1.1 million Wisconsinites relying on Medicaid.

They’ve proposed rolling back Wisconsin’s Family and Medical Leave Act. Employees working less than 25 hours per week would no longer be eligible for family leave, and employers could deny the use of accrued sick time to cover lost pay. Many would be forced to take unpaid leave for emergencies, putting their homes, families and even their jobs at risk.

In an end run around Milwaukee’s paid sick days policy, passed by 70% of that city’s voters in 2008, these legislators have introduced a bill to prevent municipalities from enacting paid sick days laws.

Proponents of these measures suggest they’re needed to boost industry and jobs but Wisconsin’s biggest companies are thriving, even through the recession. Mercury Marine reported profits of $1.1 billion between 2000-2007 while paying nothing in state corporate income taxes. Harley-Davidson’s profits have increased – profits The New York Timesdocumented as “…mostly going to shareholders instead of the broader economy.” Nevertheless, hearing the mantra of “you’re lucky to have jobs,” Harley workers were forced to take pay cuts.

The Governor and allied legislators are pulling the rug out from under middle class families because they want to bust unions and strip hard-won protections like health care, family leave and paid sick days from workers to enrich their corporate campaign contributors.

It’s time for people across Wisconsin and the nation to stand up for working families against policies that would degrade their pay and security.

About the Author: Linda Meric is the Executive Director of 9to5, National Association of Working Women, a national membership-based organization of low-income women working to improve policies on issues that directly affect them.

Opportunities Made Possible by TANF

By: Peggy Warriner

My story starts as a working taxpayer just trying to make a living and reach the American Dream, and I know firsthand the difficulties we are facing in this economy. I’m the single parent of my eight-year-old daughter, Theresa. In October 2007, I became so physically ill I was unable to work, and after my daughter and I stayed with some family and then a shelter, I had no other choice but to apply for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families), Medicaid and food stamps. With income from TANF, I was able to move into transitional housing, as well as have the time to apply for low-income housing, pay for my car insurance, and get a telephone. I was also able to go to the doctor and attend to my health issues, which in turn allowed me to be more physically able to work and be a better mother. As soon as I received those benefits I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders and I could focus more on meeting our basic needs like food, shelter and personal wellness.

This time on TANF also allowed me to do another very important thing, get back on track and follow the American Dream. I was finally able to attend school full time and became a certified Auto Technician. It isn’t always easy having the Department of Human Services in your business or meeting their requirements, but in the end I am thankful that someone believed in me. I can honestly say that I followed my dreams, and even if I don’t reach them, I won’t forget the accomplishments I have made along the way. I know that the American Recover and Reinvestment Act helped put more money into TANF and other benefits for families, and now that the money is gone, I’m wondering what is going to happen to me and other families like mine. TANF is constantly under attack for cuts to reduce budget shortfalls, but the state should not attempt to balance the budget on the backs of those who have the least.

How we treat those most vulnerable in our society is a test of who we are as people. In order to protect and support those who need it the most we must continue to value and invest in our community benefit programs that help families like mine reach their potential, so we can have a Colorado that does not cast people aside when they need help the most, but provides them time and assistance to get back on their feet and achieve economic security for families.

ARRA dollars at work and still working

by Margaret Gomez

34-year-old Jeremy Kozik worked in the architecture industry for nine years before he lost his job when the Great Recession came crashing down in Colorado. Over the next 15 months, Jeremy looked persistently for a new job, but in some of the hardest hit sectors, there were very few opportunities to get back to work. Like millions of other professionals out of a job, Jeremy filed for Unemployment Insurance to make ends meet. He also participated in local educational programming to supplement his current job skills and still advance his career in these tough times. Luckily for unemployed workers, Colorado recently qualified to pay up to an additional six weeks of federal extended benefits, known as Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC). Jeremy heard about iCAST from another unemployed colleague who had already completed some classes there. iCAST is a non-profit organization that offers services such as resume building and educational classes to improve their job skills. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded this program and others like it in Colorado. This monumental public policy allowed billions of dollars to be streamlined directly to states to fund job training programs, public services, jobs, and bolstered newer industries, such as the renewable energy sectors, to help local communities put people back to work. So far in Colorado, that largest potions of these funds, $1,118 million have been spent on job training and Unemployment Insurance. According to a report by the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, Colorado experienced an increase in the unemployment rate last December. Now at 8.8%, the unemployment rate is at its highest since the start of the economic downturn, and in 28 years. With Colorado’s unemployment rate forecasted at 8.4 percent for 2011 and 8.2 percent for 2012, workers are still depending on state programs and services to keep their heads above water in a stagnant economy. Educational training programs such as iCAST,the Denver Green Jobs Initiative, and other vital community benefit services are now at risk because the funding from the Recovery Act, which had filled some of these holes since 2009, is only trickling into the state. According to the Colorado Legislative Council, the state is now facing a $1.1 billion general fund budget shortfall for 2011 and a significant revenue crisis. The gaps in state funding will have an immense impact on everyone in our community, from those accessing Medicaid benefits to anyone currently enrolled in a school in Colorado. In order to ensure a quality future for Colorado, it’s necessary to continue to invest in our community benefit programs the way the Recovery Act did so we can achieve economic security for Colorado families.

*In January 2011, Jeremy accepted a new full time position as an architect with Western Engineering and Research Corporation (WERC).

Margaret Gomez is the ARRA organizer and can be contacted at maggie@9to5.org.

9to5 Is On The Line

Every year, thousands of women and men call 9to5’s Job Survival Helpline for advice on how to deal with difficult situations at work, information on their rights in the workplace, and tips on balancing work and family.

After Maya* fell and injured herself on the job, her supervisor began pushing her to quit. When that didn’t intimidate her, he tried to pit Maya and another woman against each other, creating a hostile work environment for both of them. Fortunately, both women could see through his behavior and became allies instead of enemies. The supervisor became verbally abusive and made the workplace unbearable.

Maya says her supervisor’s behavior bordered on stalking. He abused his authority by calling his staff and asking them to report on her. If he could not see her, he wanted to know where she was at all times. When Maya reported his behavior to Human Resources, her supervisor’s harassment escalated. “One time, he waited for me outside in the parking lot and followed me in his car,” she says. Maya felt threatened enough to call the police.

One day, her supervisor turned to her and demanded, “Why are you working here anyway? You have an advanced degree.” This confirmed Maya’s feelings that her supervisor felt threatened by her education and experience. With nowhere else to turn, Maya fled to the bathroom to pull herself together. She had gotten 9to5’s number previously, and now she called the 9to5 Job Survival Helpline from the bathroom of her workplace.

That call made all the difference. “It was having a place to call that could listen and give resources, having someone who was on my side, that helped me get through the day,” she says. The person on the other end of the line gave her tips she could use right then to deal with the situation and sent her a list of local lawyers, highlighting the ones that dealt with discrimination and retaliation.

Maya ended up leaving her job, and in spite of her reports to his superiors, her former supervisor is still there. Maya says that knowing that the problems weren’t her fault, but her supervisor’s, helped her get through the situation. She believes that everyone should have the right to a workplace free from harassment, and those that don’t should have options to remedy the

The Job Survival Helpline offers information and resources about your rights in the workplace. The Helpline is staffed from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM Eastern time on weekdays, and has additional evening hours between 5:00 and 7:00 PM Eastern time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call 1-800-522-0925 to speak to a trained staff person.

*Name has been changed at Maya's request.

Go Lead Training February: Rules for Lobbying

Come to this workshop to learn all of the ways to integrate rules of lobbying into you advocacy work!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

5:30-7:30 PM

Location:

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
7155 E. 38th Ave
Denver CO 80207

*** Snacks provided ***

Click here to RSVP or you can contact Margarita at margarita@9to5.org

The Go Lead program is a series of monthly trainings designed to increase your leadership and give you the skills to be an effective advocate. Join us on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at the Colorado Education Association.

The Colorado Go Lead Training series is brought to you by:

9 to 5 National Association of Working Women

Center for Progressive Leadership

Colorado Education Association

Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)

Denver Area Labor Federation (DALF)

Latina Initiative

NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado

New Era Colorado

ONE Colorado

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

The White House Project