the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
May 4, 2020
For Michigan’s Unemployment Agency workers, working from home has meant the stress of the office is now—in their homes!
State employees are under tremendous pressure that many have never faced before. And the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) has been hell-bent on trying to grind too much work out of too few workers.
Especially at a time like this, the unemployed in the community should be able to call the agency and talk to someone who can help. But simple customer service is impossible with too few workers.
The department has roughly one-third fewer employees in 2020 than during the 2008 economic collapse, when the number of claims was lower! That does not stop managers—living in some fantasy world—from setting quotas and threatening employees. The State of Michigan must hire more workers now!
Covid-19 is not the reason that the Unemployment Agency is understaffed. Political choices have been made for decades—by both political parties—to shred the social safety net. The wealthiest HAVE a social safety net, and the working class does not.
When it comes to what the working class needs to be able to live, this society, based on greed, is not able to deliver. A whole new system, run by workers, is necessary. One day an overhaul and a movement of the workers will take place!