On Wednesday, July 7th, as a prelude to our first big action following the US Social Forum (which will be on September 15th), Kentucky JwJ stood in solidarity with millions who have lost their jobs and face a desperate future.
Although this was a last minute call to action, at least 50 protesters showed up to march outside of the office of Senator Mitch McConnell in Louisville. Our demand was an immediate extension of unemployment benefits and protection of Social Security and Medicare — our precious social safety net programs won by generations of struggle.
Several individuals on unemployment spoke, including longtime Kentucky Jobs with Justice activist Gail Helinger. She has been laid off for over a year now, and her unemployment compensation will end soon unless Congress acts quickly!
Gail and several other unemployed workers marched into Senator McConnell’s office to speak with him about this issue but, of course, he was unavailable. They were able to speak to an aide who informed them that the Senator will vote for extension of unemployment benefits that is fiscally responsible.
We then marched several blocks to the unemployment office to distribute leaflets with the following call to action:
Are you unemployed? Are you receiving unemployment compensation? Are you about to lose your unemployment benefits? Do you care about people who are unemployed?
Yes?!? Well then, please call Senator Mitch McConnell at 502-582-6304 and tell him to stop blocking the extension of unemployment benefits to you and millions of workers who still cannot find employment.
Thanks for caring about working families.
