MEDIA RELEASE
| For Immediate Release | Contact | Phone |
| January 26, 2012 | Beverly Brown Ruggia, New Jersey Citizen Action | 973-643-8800 |
NJ Citizen Action Protests Annual Chamber Train Trip to D.C.
Calls on Chamber Train Riders to Support Fully Renewed Federal Unemployment Benefits
NEWARK, NJ — Today (January 26, 2012), New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) members protested the annual NJ Chamber of Commerce's "Walk to Washington." The protest was held at the Newark and Metropark Train Stations. Protesters dressed as skunks with the message "unemployment stinks" and handed out clothes pins with a message that urged attendees not to make life harder for the unemployed and to support fully renewed federal unemployment benefits.
The NJ Chamber of Commerce's "Walk to Washington" is one of NJ's premier private political events of the year, attended by legislators, regulators and members of the state's executive branch. "Every year high paid lobbyists and corporations spend big bucks, up to $15,000, for the opportunity to have access to NJ's political establishment on this private train," stated Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, NJCA Executive Director." "Citizen Action would like to remind these folks of the millions of Americans without jobs that allow this kind of elite access. Being unemployed is hard enough, we shouldn't make life more difficult for these people who are struggling just to make ends meet by adding mean spirited restrictions to federal unemployment benefits," she added.
NJCA is calling for federal unemployment benefits to be fully renewed with no cuts and no barriers to benefits. NJCA is opposing the House GOP's H.R. 3060 proposals which would make it harder for ordinary Americans who lose their jobs to access their unemployment insurance. Current proposals include:
- Slashing federal UI by more than half in the highest unemployment states
- Allowing mandatory drug testing of unemployment insurance claimants, stigmatizing jobless workers
- Make jobless workers pay for their reemployment services
- Denying benefits to those not fortunate enough to finish high school or GED, and
- Letting state reduce benefits and divert unemployment benefit funds to other uses.
New Jersey families are struggling just to make it to the next day," said Salowe-Kaye. "The House GOP proposals don't make any sense. Why would you slash federal unemployment insurance by up to 40 weeks in the hardest hit states — including New Jersey? It is only right that federal benefits be extended," she added.
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New Jersey Citizen Action is the State's largest, independent citizen watchdog coalition representing 100 affiliated and allied organizations and 60,000 family members. New Jersey Citizen Action works to improve the lives of all residents through organizing campaigns that promote economic and social justice. New Jersey Citizen Action is the NJ Affiliate of USAction that builds power by uniting people locally and nationally, on-the-ground and online, to win a more just and progressive America.
