Sept. 28—Displaced workers hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina live in the three states with the lowest average weekly unemployment insurance (UI) benefit levels in the nation. That means workers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are receiving an average UI benefit that is only half the poverty line for a family of four.
Workers who are not eligible for UI qualify for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)—but those benefits are set at half a state’s average weekly UI benefit, which would be less than $100 a week in all three states, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Louisiana’s (DUA) level of $97 per week is the equivalent of $5,044 a year. This provides income far below the poverty line even for a single individual, let alone for an unemployed worker trying to support a family,” according to the report, which notes that $97 a week is only 31 percent of the poverty line for a family of three.
AFL-CIO Calls on Labor Department to Increase Disaster Relief
In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, the AFL-CIO urged an increase in DUA benefits, expanding eligibility and extending the program to 52 weeks rather than the current 26. The federation also called for an increase in regular UI benefit levels and additional weeks of benefits for jobless hurricane survivors.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered a proposal that would set minimum DUA benefits at $270 a week for 52 weeks and make other improvements in the program. The proposal, added to an appropriations bill, was defeated on procedural grounds. On Sept. 22, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee approved bipartisan legislation to boost DUA benefits to $135 a week, extend benefits for 39 weeks and make other improvements in the program.
House and Senate lawmakers are working on several bills that extend regular UI benefits and some Democrats are pushing for higher UI benefits.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has made it more difficult for workers in hard-hit Gulf states to earn living wages while rebuilding the area. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, Bush issued an executive order taking wage protections away from construction workers who will rebuild the Gulf Coast. The Bush administration also used the disaster to attack federal standards by lifting many affirmative action rules for reconstruction contracts and suspending regulations limiting the number of hours truckers can drive when transporting fuel.
Bush Uses Disaster to Attack Workers’ Wages
In addition, Bush has weakened restrictions giving contracting preferences to small and minority-owned businesses and has suspended the Jones Act, which requires transport of petroleum, gasoline and other petroleum products on U.S.-flagged ships while operating in U.S. coastal waters.
“The Bush administration’s recent wage cut will make it more difficult for Gulf Coast workers to rebuild their lives. Congress and the public must be able to learn whether protections are in place to ensure federal contractors will pay workers a fair wage, abide by anti-discrimination laws in hiring, and ensure safe working conditions,” says Rep. George Miller (D- Calif.).
Miller has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the departments of Labor and Homeland Security to determine what standards remain in place to protect Gulf Coast workers’ wages and working conditions and that prevent discriminatory hiring practices.
Also, The New York Times reported Sept. 26 that more than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in Hurricane Katrina related contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were awarded without bidding or with limited competition. Earlier reports revealed that many hurricane contracts were awarded to firms with strong ties to the administration and the Republican Party.
House Democrats have requested the Government Accountability Office investigate the hurricane reconstruction deals.
