Dear John,
A staggering 98% of our 35,000 hospitality and food service members in Florida were laid off over the last two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them are immigrants and African Americans—and most of them have not received an unemployment check to date.
Other hospitality workers in Florida have had the same experience. Florida’s reactionary politics have contributed to a broken unemployment system, and workers and their children are starting to run out of food.
As an ally of UNITE HERE, would you donate today to the our Education and Support Fund for Floridian hospitality workers displaced by COVID-19?
The unemployment process has been difficult for workers across the country, but Florida is one of the worst. Of nearly 2 million applicants, only 40% are receiving payments. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blames the gridlock on the unprecedented number of claims that are being processed due to COVID-19. But our broken unemployment system has been intentionally weakened over the last decade by right-wing politicians aiming to give tax cuts to wealthy employers, with little concern for the workers who depend on it in a crisis.
It’s business as usual for Florida’s right-wing government, which works to restrict voting rights and rollback transformative felon re-enfranchisement gains made in the last election. And it could set an example for the rest of the country.
Can you chip in to support Floridian hospitality workers who are fighting for us all?
Despite being knocked off their feet by this crisis, hospitality and food service workers have been in the fight, rising to demand a change. In April, hundreds of hospitality workers, organized by UNITE HERE, took to the streets in caravan protests in both Miami and Orlando to demand that the Florida government fix the unemployment system now. Workers simply can’t wait anymore.
Working people in Florida are doing our part to make sure their voices are being heard above the cacophony of self-interested politics.
As they stand up for all working families, hospitality workers need your help to support their families. Will you stand in solidarity with them today with a donation to the UNITE HERE Education and Support Fund?
Thank you,
D. Taylor
President, UNITE HERE
