TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jobless Floridians are angry after turning to the state’s unemployment benefits system -- only to find a broken process.
Weeks of frustration has inspired some to create the Tallahassee Stand for Your Unemployment Benefits rally that will take place at the state capitol in Tallahassee at 2 p.m. Monday.
People are asked to respect social distancing and stand at least 6-feet apart should they show up
“Before being furloughed, I was a customer service representative for an elevator company,” said Tammy Smith, a now-unemployed Floridian. She applied for unemployment only to find the website barely worked and took almost six days to get through.
“I’ve spent probably 20 hours trying to navigate the unemployment website since March 29,” Smith said. “You click through it and then get shut out multiple times for no reason and it doesn’t save or just never reloads. It was 4 a.m. when I finally got mine to go through after a week of trying. And three weeks later, it still says its pending and under review.”
Smith called the helpline number listed on the unemployment website.
“I spoke to one of their reps and they said they just completed training and had no information to provide besides ‘they are working to fix it’” Smith said.
She's received no answers and no access to unemployment benefits as bills need to be paid. Smith said she had to call her mortgage company and credit card companies to ask for extensions.
“The bottom line is that workers can’t wait. Money has been given to corporations but there are thousands of Floridians waiting on their rightful benefits from a program we have paid into during our lifetime. It’s not right and we are still waiting for funds,” Smith said.
Smith will be at the rally at the state capitol on Monday to raise awareness of a problem that she says needs to be solved now before things get out of control.
“I think it could have been a lot simpler if on March 15 our legislators had gotten to work on a solution for Floridians. But they didn’t," she said. "So tomorrow I hope that my friends and neighbors show up to ask local lawmakers, 'Hey leaders where are you?!'"
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