Thousands of Hawaii workers rushed after losing federal unemployment benefits

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – About 35,000 people statewide lost their federal unemployment benefits over the holiday weekend. Now, many of the state’s unemployed are unsure of what to do as the pandemic continues.

Programs that ended included support for concert workers and independent contractors who were generally not eligible for regular unemployment benefits paid through Emergency Unemployment Compensation in the event of a pandemic – or the program. PEUC which extended the normal 26 weeks of benefits to a maximum of 53 weeks – are over too.

Many workers in Hawaii, especially in the tourism industry, fear that with the business downturn, they will soon have no options left.

Nely Reinante is a housekeeper at the Hilton Hawaiian Village who was put back on “call duty” like 150 of her colleagues, and she has not been recalled since August 23. With the business downturn and the reduction in services like daily room cleaning, she worries about covering all of her expenses.

“There is no daily room cleaning and with the end of unemployment we will be forced to look for a job (where the salary) is two to three times less than what we used to do, so how are we going to feed our family, pay our rent, our mortgage? ”said Reinante.

However, Reinante considers herself lucky. She was eligible to submit the initial new claim this year, but since she only worked three months per year, the benefits she will receive will be much lower than if she had worked full time.

Eric Gill is the treasurer and financial security of Unite Here Local 5. He says his when asked if he thinks the state is ready to support its members if they lose their jobs.

“It is unfortunate that the government has done little for workers on leave throughout the pandemic and now it is even worse. I mean basically we have been through a year and a half of federal relief, but the state has not stepped up and has not yet stepped up and has not yet committed to expanding unemployment benefits, ”he said. Gill said.

The unions also criticize the DLIR for not opening the state employment offices when they had recently planned to do so on September 7.

Meanwhile, DLIR director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio said she believes online and phone appointments are the most efficient way to serve applicants.

“The efficiency of this new dating system has been fantastic. I think we have seen over the last couple of weeks through arbitration appointments and now yesterday starting the hearings for PEUC and PUA and regular UI we were able to take over a thousand or 1,400 individual appointments per week, ”she said. noted.

More resources for those who have lost their federal benefits and need help with their next step can be found online.

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