On July 25, the federal government’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program ended for most states, leaving millions of Californians without the extra cash many of them had been relying on for months to make ends meet.
The nationwide protests against the heinous killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman, is reminiscent of the 1960s era of turmoil and voices that fervently called for social and economic justice. Today’s turbulent times seem that history is repeating itself.
In addition to George Floyd, recent tragedies took the lives of a Black Louisville EMT in the middle of the night while she was asleep in her own bed. In another fatal incident, a young Black Georgia man jogging in daylight was shot dead. None of these three unarmed people deserved to die violently.
Out-of-work gig workers in California whose employers have not paid into the state’s unemployment insurance fund — as well as Californians without jobs who have run out of unemployment benefits — will be able to file new unemployment claims.