AFL-CIO presents bills to extend unemployment benefits

SALEM - Layoff notices have gone out to 6,444 Oregon workers since July 1, 2000, and 38 plants have either closed or curtailed production, according to documentation by the Oregon Office of Community College Services (OCCS).

The organization presented its findings to the Workforce Investment Board at the request of Oregon AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Brad Witt.

An additional 1,000 layoffs have not yet been documented by OCCS, which compiled the numbers from surveys based on Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) that is required by federal law.

Of the 6,444 job losses, 34 percent were union jobs.

Witt asked the Workforce Investment Board, which oversees the distribution of federal training funds for dislocated workers under the Workforce Investment Act, to survey job losses from the effects of the Northwest's energy crisis and to review all options for assisting the expanding number of laid-off workers in Oregon.

In addition, the state labor federation has drafted five bills seeking to expand the state's unemployment insurance system to better meet the needs of dislocated workers.

Senate Bill 913, sponsored by Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and House Bill 3759 sponsored by Gary Hansen, D-Portland, would extend the maximum period for unemployment insurance benefits from 26 weeks to 104 weeks for dislocated workers who are enrolled in professional/technical training programs.

House Bill 3760, also sponsored by Hansen, a member of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290, would reduce the waiting period for low-income health insurance assistance to one month for dislocated workers.

House Bill 2993, sponsored by Lane Shetterly, R-Dallas, and Senate Bill 822, sponsored by Tony Corcoran, D-Cottage Grove, would repeal penalties that now bar unemployment insurance benefits for dislocated workers who take lump-sum distribution of retirement benefits.

Corcoran is a member of the Oregon Public Employees Union.