Workers grapple with economic distress amid Covid-19 closures

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state with Covid-19 updates during a March 26 press conference. Courtesy of Michigan Executive Office of the Governor

Nicholas Ketchum | Contributor
Lilly Kujawski | Editor

As Covid-19’s economic impact intensifies, local workers are taking a hit.

In the first 22 days of March, the Michigan restaurant industry saw the loss of 72,000 jobs—along with an estimated $491 million in sales—according to a survey conducted jointly by the National Restaurant Association and the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association (MRLA).

Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a “stay at home” order to slow the spread of Covid-19. The order temporarily shuttered all businesses deemed “nonessential.”

Working students affected

The pandemic, hailed “unprecedented” in its effects, threatens employment as well as public health. Workers, including some WCC students, are feeling its grip. Many work at local retailers, restaurants, hotels and other service-based firms.

Jaime Yacono, a WCC student studying culinary arts, was an employee at the Graduate, a hotel in downtown Ann Arbor. The hotel closed operations last week after laying off staff, including management.

Yacono said staff hours were cut two weeks ago, with paid time off providing some compensation. But last Monday, the Graduate’s entire staff was laid off until June or July without pay, according to Yacono.

Ali Annala, a 20-year-old nursing student at WCC, used to work two jobs, but now, at least temporarily, she’s out both of them.

Annala worked as a gymnastics coach at Gym America in Saline, but the center is now closed indefinitely because of Covid-19.

Annala is also a server at Texas Roadhouse, which has moved to takeout orders only, per an executive order from Whitmer. To comply with the order, the restaurant also had to cut down its staff for a given shift to “essential” employees only.

“I told them that I didn’t want to work, because I didn’t feel comfortable still going out to people’s cars and talking to them,” Annala said. “It wasn’t enough for me to want to keep going there with everything going on… it doesn’t outweigh the risk at this point.”

Annala said she filed for unemployment to supplement her income until she can return to work.

“I’m receiving some money, but not as much as what I would be if I was working four or five days a week like I normally would,” Annala said. “I do have a job to go back to, thankfully.”

Filing for unemployment

Whitmer expanded unemployment benefits in Michigan to assist more workers who are out of work because of the Covid-19 outbreak. In conjunction with the federal “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” or  “CARES Act,” the expanded unemployment benefits extend eligibility to independent contractors, gig and freelance workers, the self-employed and others.

The CARES Act supplies an additional $600 in unemployment funds for up to four months to eligible individuals, on top of state unemployment benefits.

Due to a recent spike in unemployment claims, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency implemented a new filing schedule to help control online and phone traffic.

For more information about unemployment benefit eligibility, visit the Labor and Economic Opportunity Covid-19 unemployment FAQ. If you need unemployment assistance, you can start the process here. According to the Michigan UIA, filing online is the fastest method.

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