John: Before the coronavirus forced me out of work, I was a cook at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, for 22 years. I loved my job and hope to return as soon as it becomes safe. But the hospitality industry may not recover for years—and my family needs to eat now.

When my employer let us know we were being laid off, I wondered how my family would survive. Then Congress passed the CARES Act, which included $600 a week in enhanced unemployment insurance to help tens of millions of workers like me who were jobless through no fault of our own. 

But that $600 lifeline expired on July 31. And despite the House passing the HEROES Act, which would extend the $600 UI through the end of the year, Mitch McConnell’s Senate continues to sit idly by. 

With the Senate set to break for summer recess in three days, I’m asking you to join me in calling our senators at 866-832-1560 to let them know that the HEROES Act had what workers like me need to keep afloat in these dire and uncertain times. 

I cannot overstate how important this essential program included in the HEROES Act is to my family’s livelihood. We must keep doing everything in our power to put pressure on our U.S. senators to get the relief that millions of families like mine desperately need. 

Call 866-832-1560 to tell your senators that workers cannot survive on anything less than the supplemental $600 UI during these times of crisis. 

As a worker in one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, all I know is that Mitch better have my money. 

In solidarity,

Sami Bourma
UNITE HERE Local 23