Jobless workers upset over the state’s delay in ruling on their unemployment compensation claim are expected to join forces with a group of state legislators in a protest Thursday outside the governor’s regional office in downtown Pittsburgh to demand they get benefits while awaiting for a decision on their claims.
“We are asking them to pay people now while they are awaiting a decision by the (unemployment insurance) examiners,” said Barney Oursler, director of the Pittsburgh-based Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, which has organized the protest.
Several state legislators, including Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-North Hills, and Rep. Nick Pisciottano, D-West Mifflin, are expected join labor leaders at the protest.
It is planned for 1 p.m. outside Piatt Place, 301 Fifth Ave. A similar rally is scheduled to occur in Philadelphia, Oursler said.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Labor & Industry in Harrisburg could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
With a backlog of more than 300,000 claims, some of the jobless have been waiting for months for a determination on their case, Oursler said.
Under the current system, the benefits are held up to avoid any over-payment to workers who are later found to be ineligible. The unemployment insurance examiner’s decision is crucial for the claim to move through the system, Oursler said.
If the examiner finds them ineligible, the ruling will allow them to file an appeal, Oursler said.
Based on a review of the Labor & Industry report on the backlog facing the referees, Oursler said it has grown in January from about 207,000 claimants — about 110,000 of whom are self-employed and gig workers — to more than 300,000.
Even with the reported hiring in March of 72 more examiners, Oursler said it could take six months before they plow through the backlog.
“They are getting overwhelmed,” Oursler said.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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May 06, 2021 at 08:01AM
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Jobless want state to end backlog, pay benefits now - TribLIVE
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