This Monday roughly 600 unemployment call center employees are about to lose their jobs in Pennsylvania. The layoffs are expected to close 3 of the state’s 8 unemployment call center and severely under-staffing another one. Unemployed workers who need help navigating the online application process may have to wait hours to reach an employee over the phone, and initial unemployment checks can possibly be delayed weeks or months according to SEIU Local 668 president Tom Herman.
The state senator responsible for the layoffs and closures is State Senator Scott Wagner. Wagner — who holds powerful because he is insanely rich — was able to convince the senate leadership to pull a bill to fund the centers on the last day of the session. The bill was agreed upon Governor Wolf and all four caucuses, and breezed through the House and Senate. Since then, Wagner has been using the closures as a political stunt for his gubernatorial campaign.
Well, workers are furious and have been emailing the Senator constantly, and Senator Wagner cracked in one email telling a worker that Governor Wolf is responsible for the layoffs so he can go through with layoffs outside of unemployment compensation. Wagner then responds to charges about being a career politician by saying “Trust me on this – I am not a career politician – and I have big balls,” and the asked the soon to be laid off employee “do you have the backbone to meet with me and get the full story?”