When she told her story Monday at the state Capitol, she got a hug from Mike Adair, who also is searching for a job. While working people comfort each other, they are looking to lawmakers for help – and are increasingly frustrated by the lack of action.
“I’ve always been a proud man my whole life,” said Tony Hajder, a union Sprinkler Fitter who has been unable to find work. “You have no idea what it’s like to walk into a food shelf and ask for help.
“Now is the time for our government to stand up and make a strong push for economic development. I know there are thousands of families like mine out there who can use any good news right now.”
 |
| Gretchen Gubbins became emotional as she spoke Monday during a "Minnesota Wants to Work" listening session. Tony Hajder and other unemployed workers offered their support. |
Sharing – and listening
Gubbins, Adair and Hajder were among six workers who shared their stories at a “listening session” sponsored by labor unions and Working America, an organization whose members are mostly not represented by unions.
At times, their voices broke and they sobbed, as did people in the audience, when describing the difficulties they face. At the same time, they are determined to keep trying, despite all the heartache.
“I applied for 18 jobs last week,” said Gubbins, a former school cafeteria worker. “I haven’t heard crap from any of them. That’s what it’s been like for two years.”
Adair has been mostly unemployed since being injured in a car accident. He and his wife have both gone back to school for retraining and are trying to subsist on student loans. They buy secondhand goods at a Goodwill store, he said.
“It says something about the economy when there are more cars parked at the Goodwill than there are cars at Slumberland [furniture store],” he noted.
Hajder said the downturn in construction has hit Building Trades workers like him especially hard and urged lawmakers to approve a bonding bill to fund important infrastructure projects that also would create jobs.
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| "Do you pay for your prescription - or do you put gas in the car?" Michael Walker asked. "I think that something is definitely wrong with our system." |
“I’ve never been on medical or food stamp assistance [before], but I’m not too proud to say it has helped me because I have to feed my children,” Walker said.
He, too, wants lawmakers to address the economic crisis.
“What is holding up the process?” Walker asked. “What is the arguing and bickering about in these chambers and in this building?”
No one is spared
Susan Evarts would seem an unlikely candidate to be unemployed. She has a doctorate in biology and taught at the University of St. Thomas. But after being laid off, she hasn’t been able to find other teaching jobs. Even though schools cite a shortage of science teachers, they don’t have the funds to hire educators and are cutting staff.
So she is retraining to become a master gardener and hopes to find work at a local garden center.
“I love teaching,” Evarts said. “I would love to get back into the field, but the jobs aren’t there.”
Catherine Reierson has a job as a grocery cashier, but can’t get enough hours to earn a decent living.
Calling herself “one of the working poor,” Reierson said, “I feel like I’m on a spiral down toward homelessness.”
These workers put a face on some very depressing statistics, said Kris Jacobs, executive director of the JOBS NOW Coalition, who moderated the discussion.
Since 2000, Minnesota has experienced a net loss of 63,000 jobs, in contrast to the 562,000 created in the decade of the 1990s, she said.
“The legislative session began with the promise the focus would be on creating jobs and getting the economy back on its feet,” Jacobs noted. Yet that has not happened.
Tina Smith, Governor Mark Dayton’s chief of staff, attended the listening session and was presented with a stack of letters from unemployed Minnesotans. “I will take your stories back to the governor … It will get through,” she promised.
For more information
Visit the Working America website
Share
When she told her story Monday at the state Capitol, she got a hug from Mike Adair, who also is searching for a job. While working people comfort each other, they are looking to lawmakers for help – and are increasingly frustrated by the lack of action.
“I’ve always been a proud man my whole life,” said Tony Hajder, a union Sprinkler Fitter who has been unable to find work. “You have no idea what it’s like to walk into a food shelf and ask for help.
“Now is the time for our government to stand up and make a strong push for economic development. I know there are thousands of families like mine out there who can use any good news right now.”
|
| Gretchen Gubbins became emotional as she spoke Monday during a "Minnesota Wants to Work" listening session. Tony Hajder and other unemployed workers offered their support. |
Sharing – and listening
Gubbins, Adair and Hajder were among six workers who shared their stories at a “listening session” sponsored by labor unions and Working America, an organization whose members are mostly not represented by unions.
At times, their voices broke and they sobbed, as did people in the audience, when describing the difficulties they face. At the same time, they are determined to keep trying, despite all the heartache.
“I applied for 18 jobs last week,” said Gubbins, a former school cafeteria worker. “I haven’t heard crap from any of them. That’s what it’s been like for two years.”
Adair has been mostly unemployed since being injured in a car accident. He and his wife have both gone back to school for retraining and are trying to subsist on student loans. They buy secondhand goods at a Goodwill store, he said.
“It says something about the economy when there are more cars parked at the Goodwill than there are cars at Slumberland [furniture store],” he noted.
Hajder said the downturn in construction has hit Building Trades workers like him especially hard and urged lawmakers to approve a bonding bill to fund important infrastructure projects that also would create jobs.
|
| "Do you pay for your prescription – or do you put gas in the car?" Michael Walker asked. "I think that something is definitely wrong with our system." |
Michael Walker needs to retrain for a new career after a workplace injury left him unable to perform carpentry work. The injury and loss of income were devastating for him – leading to divorce and the possible loss of his home to foreclosure. He currently is a single parent raising two children.
“I’ve never been on medical or food stamp assistance [before], but I’m not too proud to say it has helped me because I have to feed my children,” Walker said.
He, too, wants lawmakers to address the economic crisis.
“What is holding up the process?” Walker asked. “What is the arguing and bickering about in these chambers and in this building?”
No one is spared
Susan Evarts would seem an unlikely candidate to be unemployed. She has a doctorate in biology and taught at the University of St. Thomas. But after being laid off, she hasn’t been able to find other teaching jobs. Even though schools cite a shortage of science teachers, they don’t have the funds to hire educators and are cutting staff.
So she is retraining to become a master gardener and hopes to find work at a local garden center.
“I love teaching,” Evarts said. “I would love to get back into the field, but the jobs aren’t there.”
Catherine Reierson has a job as a grocery cashier, but can’t get enough hours to earn a decent living.
Calling herself “one of the working poor,” Reierson said, “I feel like I’m on a spiral down toward homelessness.”
These workers put a face on some very depressing statistics, said Kris Jacobs, executive director of the JOBS NOW Coalition, who moderated the discussion.
Since 2000, Minnesota has experienced a net loss of 63,000 jobs, in contrast to the 562,000 created in the decade of the 1990s, she said.
“The legislative session began with the promise the focus would be on creating jobs and getting the economy back on its feet,” Jacobs noted. Yet that has not happened.
Tina Smith, Governor Mark Dayton’s chief of staff, attended the listening session and was presented with a stack of letters from unemployed Minnesotans. “I will take your stories back to the governor … It will get through,” she promised.
For more information
Visit the Working America website