# Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails UBER/LYFT worker relief in unemployment crisis.



## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

The Washington Post: Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails scope of worker relief in unemployment crisis.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ails-scope-worker-relief-unemployment-crisis/


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Paul Vincent said:


> The Washington Post: Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails scope of worker relief in unemployment crisis.
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ails-scope-worker-relief-unemployment-crisis/


Damn Straight !

And he Deserves it !


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

For those (like me) who don't subscribe to the Washington Post and can't read the original article, here's a summary of it.

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-d...-his-best-to-gut-the-coronavirus-rescue-bill/
Since Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia is the son of deceased conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, his attitude and beliefs are not surprising.

This is the problem you run into when a flexible President is running the country. Many of the people Trump appointed are not "flexible".

BTW...have we seen any of the rules that Scalia changed to reduce our Employment Compensation eligibility?

Edit to add: Regarding the Unemployment benefits being "lucrative", Scalia does have a point there. Five of the 12 employees at a gas station up the street went to their doctor and got a note saying they should not work during this dire crisis. (IL is a hotspot). They are now at home collecting at least $800 @ week (($600 Fed / $200 State(at least)) for at least the next 4 months. A significant pay-raise for them.


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## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

AllenChicago said:


> For those (like me) who don't subscribe to the Washington Post and can't read the original article, here's a summary of it.
> 
> https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-d...-his-best-to-gut-the-coronavirus-rescue-bill/
> Since Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia is the son of deceased conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, his attitude and beliefs are not surprising.
> ...


That's odd when I pulled up the article the first time it let me read it now it won't. Basically it said you have to prove the coronavirus the Uber app or Lyft app from working ...Uber/Lyft were forced to cease operations in your city.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

Paul Vincent said:


> That's odd when I pulled up the article the first time it let me read it now it won't. Basically it said you have to prove the coronavirus the Uber app or Lyft app from working ...Uber/Lyft were forced to cease operations in your city.


That SOB Scalia told our governors exactly what they wanted to hear....even the Democrat governors, because re-tooling the state websites to include "1099" business owners is taking most of them weeks, and costing over $2 million per website. And it's just for this particular "crisis". (Illinois says 7 weeks till 1099 business owners can apply)

It would have been better if the IRS paid $600 @ week to each "1099" business owner directly. Not involve the states, with their systems, which are not programmed to pay unemployment to people (like us) who do not pay into the system.

Congress meant well, but they were in too big a hurry to get the $2.2 Trillion out the door....and then go home for Easter recess.


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## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

Democracy Dies in Darkness

Business
*Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails scope of worker relief in unemployment crisis*
*Labor Department comes under fire over handling of worker protection, unemployment program*









(The Washington Post)
By Jeff Stein, Heather Long and Josh Dawsey 
April 10, 2020 at 1:14 PM EDT
The Labor Department is facing growing criticism over its response to the coronavirus pandemic as the agency plays a central role in ensuring that the tens of millions of workers affected by the crisis get assistance.
The criticism ranges from direct actions that the agency has taken to limit the scope of worker assistance programs to concerns that it has not been aggressive enough about protecting workers from health risks or supporting states scrambling to deliver billions in new aid.
In recent days, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who has expressed concerns about unemployment insurance being too generous, has used his department's authority over new laws enacted by Congress to limit who qualifies for joblessness assistance and to make it easier for small businesses not to pay family leave benefits. The new rules make it more difficult for gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to get benefits, while making it easier for some companies to avoid paying their workers coronavirus-related sick and family leave.

"The Labor Department chose the narrowest possible definition of who qualifies for pandemic unemployment assistance," said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who has spent two decades working on unemployment programs.









(The Washington Post)
At the same time, frustrations have built among career staff at the Labor Department that the agency hasn't ordered employers to follow safeguards, including the wearing of masks, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect workers. Two draft guidance documents written by officials at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor Department, to strengthen protections for health-care workers have also not been advanced, according to two people with knowledge of the regulations granted anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations.
Scalia, a longtime corporate lawyer who is the son of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, has emerged as a critical player in the government's economic response to the pandemic. Nearly 17 million Americans have applied for unemployment insurance since President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, and states are struggling to get their systems working to deliver $260 billion in new aid approved by Congress.

Democrats and some Republicans argue that the Labor Department needs to be more aggressive about disbursing money and technical assistance to states to shore up the unemployment insurance system. The department has released only half of $1 billion in administrative support for states that Congress approved almost a month ago.
Sen. Lindsay O. Graham (R-S.C.) said Thursday in an interview that he has talked to Scalia about the need to speed things up.
"You could have massive civil unrest if these systems cannot get checks out the door. We're talking about 20 percent unemployment, maybe even more," Graham said. "The application process is a nightmare. The state systems are failing."

Graham said that Scalia has been responsive, but, "I don't see any action being taken."
Labor Department officials said Scalia is moving rapidly to help U.S. workers in an unprecedented time. They pointed to a poster and guidebook that OSHA released with steps companies "can take" to reduce worker risk of coronavirus exposure.

"Under Secretary Scalia's leadership, in the last two weeks, the department has quickly released new rules and guidance for states, businesses, and individual Americans to help those in need of relief," said Patrick Pizzella, deputy labor secretary. "The department has already distributed nearly $500 million in additional administrative funding to 39 states."

Still, Scalia has made clear he is wary of taking an excessively lax approach to disbursing aid, an argument that he used to help win GOP support for recent legislation. Writing on Fox Business Network's website on Monday, he warned that he does not want unemployed people to become addicted to government aid.
"We want workers to work, not to become dependent on the unemployment system," Scalia wrote with Small Business Administration chief Jovita Carranza. "Unemployment is not the preferred outcome when government stay-at-home orders force temporary business shutdowns."

On the day the $2 trillion package passed the Senate, Scalia spoke with Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who had raised concerns the law's new unemployment benefits were too large and would deter workers from returning to jobs.

Scalia told conservative senators that once enacted, his agency would ensure the provisions his agency oversees would not hurt U.S. companies, according to three congressional officials aware of the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss the call.
*Narrowing rules*
Two recent laws passed by Congress expanded paid and sick leave policies as well as the size and scope of unemployment benefits for Americans. But worker advocates argue that as Scalia begins to implement these measures, his department is being much less generous toward workers than toward companies.

New Labor Department guidance says unemployment benefits apply to gig workers only if they are "forced to suspend operations," which could dramatically limit options for those workers if their apps are still operating. Other workers also face a high hurdle to qualify for benefits.

The guidance says a worker "may be able to return to his or her place of employment within two weeks" of quarantining, and parents forced to stop work to care for kids after schools closed are not eligible for unemployment after the school year is over. Workers who stay home because they are older or in another high-risk group are also ineligible unless they can prove a medical professional advised them to stop working.
Some states are also having a difficult time figuring out how to verify how much money self-employed workers typically earn. It might require looking at tax documents, which unemployment offices don't usually have access to.

"Some of the requirements, the standards that we're being held to, are going to be incredibly difficult to adhere to," Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said.

A Labor Department spokesperson said the agency is "providing as much technical assistance and IT support as possible" to states, some of which are using computer systems that are several decades old.
Scalia's agency is also in charge of overseeing the new paid sick and family leave regulations, which apply to companies with fewer than 500 employees during the pandemic. The law gave the Labor Department authority to exempt businesses with under 50 employees from providing 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child out of school if the leave policy threatens to bankrupt the company.
Businesses that deny workers paid leave don't have to send the government any paperwork justifying why. The Labor Department's guidance asks companies to "retain such records for its own files," a contrast with the heavy documentation required from gig workers who must prove they were affected by the coronavirus outbreak to get aid.


*Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails scope of worker relief in unemployment crisis*
2
*Treasury's Mnuchin 'properly' followed guidance in refusing to give Trump's tax returns to Congress, inspector general finds*
3
*America is in a depression. The challenge now is to make it short-lived.*
4

Analysis
*One chart puts this week's awful jobs numbers in perspective*
5

Perspective
*IRS is launching a new online tool for people to track their $1,200 tax stimulus payments*

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*New Labor Department guidance says unemployment benefits apply to gig workers only if they are "forced to suspend operations," which could dramatically limit options for those workers if their apps are still operating. Other workers also face a high hurdle to qualify for benefits.*

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/202...scalia-unemployment-benefits-gig-workers.html


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

Homelessness is going to skyrocket and they’re going to end up paying more into other programs to support that massive influx. Good job.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

So with the huge relief package, the only real beneficiaries will be trump's cronies in big business.


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Paul Vincent said:


> The Washington Post: Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia faces blowback as he curtails scope of worker relief in unemployment crisis.
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ails-scope-worker-relief-unemployment-crisis/


Can't read - article is behind a Jeff Bezos paywall. He has so much money he should be paying _me_ to read his news stories.


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## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Can't read - article is behind a Jeff Bezos paywall. He has so much money he should be paying _me_ to read his news stories.


The article is posted above I cut copied and pasted

Jeff Bezos can suck my balls


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

AllenChicago said:


> That SOB Scalia told our governors exactly what they wanted to hear....even the Democrat governors, because re-tooling the state websites to include "1099" business owners is taking most of them weeks, and costing over $2 million per website. And it's just for this particular "crisis". (Illinois says 7 weeks till 1099 business owners can apply)
> 
> It would have been better if the IRS paid $600 @ week to each "1099" business owner directly. Not involve the states, with their systems, which are not programmed to pay unemployment to people (like us) who do not pay into the system.
> 
> Congress meant well, but they were in too big a hurry to get the $2.2 Trillion out the door....and then go home for Easter recess.


They will USE IT LATER.

Dont Worry.

They will Use it to TAX YOU !!!


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## Leoncio (Mar 6, 2019)

Dara K, Jhon Z, Logan G, and Jeff B are all thinking about the drivers they are going to loose if we get unemployment, but maybe not, unfortunatly, there is enough if us willing to destroy their cars and put aside families for peanuts. I promised myself that if I can get unemployment, I will not allow another jack customer to get in my car ever.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

Leoncio said:


> Dara K, Jhon Z, Logan G, and Jeff B are all thinking about the drivers they are going to loose if we get unemployment, but maybe not, unfortunatly, there is enough if us willing to destroy their cars and put aside families for peanuts. I promised myself that if I can get unemployment, I will not allow another jack customer to get in my car ever.


I actually enjoy driving. Getting paid for doing so is great. But being taken for granted by Lyft is annoying. Keeping 80% of the fare was acceptable. But now (over a 5 year period of time) it's down to 55%-60%.



ABQuber said:


> Homelessness is going to skyrocket and they're going to end up paying more into other programs to support that massive influx. Good job.


In Illinois, our Trump-hating governor was in such a hurry to do his part to damage the U.S. economy, he shut down the state on March 15th, without thinking how much $$$$ it deprive Illinois of.

Tax Revenues are down 67% over the past 30 days. Over 430,000 Illinois workers have filed for Unemployment. That's 7 times more people in 30 days than Illinois sees in an entire year.

DISASTER LOOMS.


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## Sepelion (Oct 28, 2019)

Gig workers just registered Democrat en masse.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

And be careful. If we insist too strongly that we want our money this could happen...






.

Or in a Quantum Mechanics fork you might just turn the tables on Eugene... (Eugene [known as Morrie by his business associates] is the one with the hairpiece)






Let us know which happens to you.


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## JaredJ (Aug 7, 2015)

I mean...have you met gig workers? You start to deny them unemployment you're going to see a level of desperation no one's ever seen. Scalia better hope he has some high walls. These are the decisions that make human beings snap.


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## DeadHeadDriver (Feb 7, 2020)

........"'Fu$king *Scalia!' *_Just when you think your done with em'..... _

p.s. hope your enjoying the warm temps while rotting in Hell, poppa Scalia.


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

Uber spends more on lobbyists and lawyers than any company I can think of.

This is your result.


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## K-pax (Oct 29, 2016)

The bill was passed with an EXPLICIT promise that it would also affect people who's hours or pay have been significantly cut due to COVID. Their rule about requiring gig economy workers to have been 'forced to suspend operations' is unbelievably vauge, and possibly renegs on the original promise of this aid, that it would expand unemployment to also compensate people who have lost money or hours due to COVID.

What is the burden of proof that you have suspended operations? Not enough business? (I could very truthfully claim that, as my level of business has dropped to a level that my bills are not likely to be paid as this chugs along, and the stimulus gets spent paying the bills above the ability of my 'new salary' to pay.). High-risk people in the house? (I have high-risk people in the house. They were given notice by their specialists to reduce exposure significantly, but yet.. I have to keep working, so that we don't starve). The Uber app literally shuts off and disallows access? (Not likely to ever happen, even in the case of a nuclear apocalypse). You can still make some money on the gig economy... the problem is this radical shut down of the economy has brought earnings way down below where little guys/gals like us can float through this.



ANT 7 said:


> Uber spends more on lobbyists and lawyers than any company I can think of.
> 
> This is your result.


TBH: Uber did lobby for this original legislation, and I can genuinely see their self-interest in doing so (even though it is supposed to help us too). They are worried that on the ass end of this crisis, there will be no drivers left to resume business as usual. If we can collect temporary unemployment, then we can ride it out and resume business after the ass end passes us. If not, many of us will fall on extreme hard times, possibly lose our homes or cars that provide us income, leaving a very small pool of drivers (the part timers who work w2 jobs are not plentiful enough to keep the whole thing working).


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## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

April 13, 2020

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) 
and other Democrats pressed Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia on Monday to broadly apply beefed-up unemployment benefits authorized by the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package signed into law last month.

The senators warned in a letter that parts of the Labor Department's guidance for disbursing the jobless benefits "appear narrow or ambiguous, which could make states think they need to exclude workers who Congress clearly intended to receive unemployment compensation through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program."

The senators urged Scalia to clarify the guidelines for workers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 without receiving a test, workers with the deadly disease who take time off; those who miss work because of stay-at-home orders or underlying health conditions such as asthma; and gig workers like ride-share drivers who have seen business evaporate.

They called on the department to clarify its guidance for unemployment benefits no later than Friday.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

Paul Vincent said:


> April 13, 2020
> 
> They called on the department to clarify its guidance for unemployment benefits no later than Friday.


The deadline of Friday April 17th is important. Otherwise, the Labor Secretary might not respond for weeks...or longer.



ANT 7 said:


> Uber spends more on lobbyists and lawyers than any company I can think of.
> 
> This is your result.


I read that Uber and Lyft are worried that individual states will require them to begin treating us as W-2 employees, and will have to begin depositing $$$ into state unemployment accounts.


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## DeadHeadDriver (Feb 7, 2020)

We should use the power of UP to organize a car protest at The Secretary's HOME. We could pack his street, jam our horns, and NOT let that little Twerp sleep for 3 nights. 
That will help his 'reconsidering' is prior poorly thought-out wording.


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## June132017 (Jun 13, 2017)

DeadHeadDriver said:


> We should use the power of UP to organize a car protest at The Secretary's HOME. We could pack his street, jam our horns, and NOT let that little Twerp sleep for 3 nights.
> That will help his 'reconsidering' is prior poorly thought-out wording.


We should go outside for 1 hour then leave. We probably will get a bonus and the money much quicker as he wouldn't want the crazy new tech taxi's back.


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## Mordred (Feb 3, 2018)

Based on his redefining gig worker eligibility, I can't imagine any driver qualifying. Apps aren't blocking access to anyone because of coronavirus.


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## Paul Vincent (Jan 15, 2016)

Mordred said:


> Based on his redefining gig worker eligibility, I can't imagine any driver qualifying. Apps aren't blocking access to anyone because of coronavirus.


Would count as being blocked if you couldn't pay your cell phone bill and had no access? &#128541;


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## jasong80 (Oct 14, 2019)

I live in NYS and was a 1099 employee ( Uber) and partially W2. If you live in NY they are counting your uber earnings and putting it towards regular UI. I just got approved tonight and got the call!!


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