Bar owner claims employees won’t return to work because they get more money from COVID-19 aid

A bar owner in Maryland said her employees won’t come back to work because they make more money from coronavirus relief aid. 

In the days leading up the Maryland’s reopening, Melony Wagner hoped to unlock the doors to Charles Village Pub and Patio in Baltimore. 

But she told WBFF he staffers who are collecting unemployment aid aren’t eager to come back to work.

‘They don’t want to because it’s less money. I’m not even angry or upset I understand,’ said Wagner.

‘Why would you want to come back and actually work and make half as much money and you’re working as you can get to stay home?’

The owner of Charles Village Pub said her employees don’t want to come back to work because they make more money from coronaivirus stimulus checks

Melony Wagner (pictured): 'Why would you want to come back and actually work and make half as much money and you're working as you can get to stay home?'

Melony Wagner (pictured): ‘Why would you want to come back and actually work and make half as much money and you’re working as you can get to stay home?’

Under the $2.2trillion coronavirus stimulus package passed as part of the CARES Act, unemployed residents receive an additional $600 a week. 

The provision is set to end in July, but Democrats in Senate have pushed forward a second coronavirus stimulus package worth $3trillion that would last through January.  It was approved by the House on Friday.  

Economist Anirban Basu admitted that federal aid has made it hard for businesses in the private sector hoping to bring back staffers.

Like other states, the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shuttered businesses in Maryland during lockdown orders. Pictured:  Health care workers accompany a patient as he leaves The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore

Like other states, the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shuttered businesses in Maryland during lockdown orders. Pictured:  Health care workers accompany a patient as he leaves The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore 

‘Because the federal government’s unemployment benefits are reasonably generous, $600 a week on top of ones state unemployment insurance benefits there might be some folks who decide I’m not really going to go back to work until August,’ he said.

Basu anticipates more employees will be willing to return to work once federal aid runs dry.   

 Wagner hopes that her employees choose to come back. 

Wagner (pictured); 'know everybody loves the extra $600 a week it's really had the opposite effect of what I think they were hoping it would have'

Wagner (pictured); ‘know everybody loves the extra $600 a week it’s really had the opposite effect of what I think they were hoping it would have’

‘It’s a very difficult position to be put in right now honestly. I know everybody loves the extra $600 a week it’s really had the opposite effect of what I think they were hoping it would have,’ she said. 

As of Saturday evening, Charles Village Pub and Patio’s Facebook page revealed the bar was performing take out carryout orders this week. 

It’s unclear how many staffers returned to their post at the pub after Gov. Larry Hogan allowed Maryland to reopen on Friday. 

Although each jurisdiction can choose when they reopen, Baltimore County, where Charles Village Pub is located, began Phase One with this week. 

Businesses can reopen under certain restrictions, including that retailers use curbside pickup instead of in-person meetings. 

Meanwhile, nearly 2.98 million Americans have filed new unemployment claims last week, according to the Labor Department.

It adds to the 33 million who have sought aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces.

Another 2.98 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, adding to the 33 million who sought aid in the previous seven weeks

The waves of layoffs caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue with nearly 36.5 million Americans now thrown out of work in a US economy still paralyzed by business shutdowns

The waves of layoffs caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue with nearly 36.5 million Americans now thrown out of work in a US economy still paralyzed by business shutdowns

The number of first-time applications, however, has now declined for six straight weeks, suggesting that a dwindling number of companies are reducing their payrolls.

By historical standards, though, the latest tally shows that the number of weekly jobless claims remains enormous, reflecting an economy that is sinking into a severe downturn.

Jobless workers in some states are still reporting difficulty applying for or receiving benefits. These include freelance, gig and self-employed workers, who became newly eligible for jobless aid this year. 

The latest jobless claims follow a devastating jobs report last week when the government said the unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, and employers shed a stunning 20.5 million jobs

The latest jobless claims follow a devastating jobs report last week when the government said the unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, and employers shed a stunning 20.5 million jobs 

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report released last week showed the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7 percent last month

The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report released last week showed the unemployment rate spiked to 14.7 percent last month

Last week’s pace of new applications for aid is still four times the record high that prevailed before the coronavirus struck hard in March.

The government said the unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, and employers shed a stunning 20.5 million jobs.  

Treasury secretary Steve Munich told Fox News that ‘the reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better.’

‘This is no fault of American business, this is no fault of American workers, this is a result of a virus,’ he added.  

At the same time, a new report found that homelessness in the US could rise by 45 per cent and affect 800,000 by the beginning of summer.  

Homelessness in the US could increase by 45 percent and reach 800,000 people by the start of summer according to shocking new study as the unemployment rate hits 14.7 percent 

Close to 800,000 Americans across the country may wind up homeless by the summer as the coronavirus pandemic forces unemployment figures to resemble numbers not seen since the Great Depression. 

An analysis conducted by Dr Brendan O’Flaherty, a professor of economics at Columbia University, shows that homelessness population in the U.S. is expected to increase some 40 to 45 per cent this year over January 2019. 

This increase will see an addition of nearly 250,000 people out on American streets, according to the study, published by nonprofit Community Solutions.

An analysis conducted by Dr Brendan O'Flaherty shows that homelessness population in the U.S. is expected to increase some 40 to 45 per cent this year over January 2019

An analysis conducted by Dr Brendan O’Flaherty shows that homelessness population in the U.S. is expected to increase some 40 to 45 per cent this year over January 2019

This increase will see an addition of nearly 250,000 people out on American streets

This increase will see an addition of nearly 250,000 people out on American streets

‘This is unprecedented,’ Dr. O’Flaherty said. ‘No one living has seen an increase of 10% of unemployment in a month.’ 

With COVID-19 crippling the United States economy, unemployment is at a staggering 14.7 per cent – a figure not seen since the height of the Great Depression in 1933. 

'This is unprecedented,' Dr. O'Flaherty said. 'No one living has seen an increase of 10% of unemployment in a month'

‘This is unprecedented,’ Dr. O’Flaherty said. ‘No one living has seen an increase of 10% of unemployment in a month’

‘If the projections of unemployment being made now turn out to be accurate, and the relationship between unemployment and homelessness follows the historical pattern, and no other major changes occur, that’s what we can expect to happen,’ Dr. O’Flaherty declared. 

Unemployment is expected to reach even higher numbers as the summer continues, reaching figures of upwards of 16 per cent.

The projections are based on a model that used unemployment projections and data on current homelessness to show the correlation between the increase in unemployment and the increase in homelessness. 

That information was attained using a standard regression developed by Dr. Kevin Corinth in ‘The impact of permanent supportive housing on homeless populations,’ published in the Journal of Housing Economics in 2017. 

With COVID-19 crippling the United States economy, unemployment is at a staggering 14.7 per cent - a figure not seen since the height of the Great Depression in 1933 (1931 Philadelphia pictured)

With COVID-19 crippling the United States economy, unemployment is at a staggering 14.7 per cent – a figure not seen since the height of the Great Depression in 1933 (1931 Philadelphia pictured)

Homeless camps in Old Town Portland Oregon on May 14

Members of the New York Police Department rouse passengers sleeping on a train as Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers clean subway cars in the Bronx on May 6

Members of the New York Police Department rouse passengers sleeping on a train as Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers clean subway cars in the Bronx on May 6

Using data on homelessness and unemployment from 2007 to 2009, the model found that for every one per cent increase in the unemployment rate, homelessness per 10,000 people increased by 0.65. 

A report also published by Community Solutions found that 40 per cent of those experiencing homelessness could contract the virus.

An estimated $11.5 billion would be needed to secure an additional 400,000 beds for homeless people across the country.

‘The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a severe and emergent health crisis for the homeless population across the United States, a crisis that our shelter and health systems are simply not adequately prepared to meet,’ the report states. 

People sleep on a subway train in New York City on May 15

People sleep on a subway train in New York City on May 15

Pedestrians walk to the edge of the sidewalk to avoid stepping on people in tents and sleeping bags in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco

Pedestrians walk to the edge of the sidewalk to avoid stepping on people in tents and sleeping bags in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco

Homeless are seen in downtown Brownsville, Texas, on May 15

Homeless are seen in downtown Brownsville, Texas, on May 15

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction requiring relocation of an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people camping near freeway ramps and under overpasses and bridges in Los Angeles County. He gave officials one week – until May 22 – to come up with a plan for providing ‘humane’ housing.

‘Without adequate access to shelter, hygiene products, and sanitation facilities, individuals experiencing homelessness face a greater risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, and an outbreak in the homeless community would threaten the general public as well,’ Carter wrote.

He said those living near freeways are exposed to pollution, including lead, that can shorten their life expectancy by decades. Carter also said the location means the homeless face a greater danger of being struck by a car or injured during an accident or earthquake. 

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit filed by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, which accused officials in greater Los Angeles of failing to comprehensively address the homelessness crisis.

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction requiring relocation of an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people camping near freeway ramps and under overpasses and bridges in Los Angeles County.

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction requiring relocation of an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people camping near freeway ramps and under overpasses and bridges in Los Angeles County.

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit filed by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, which accused officials in greater Los Angeles of failing to comprehensively address the homelessness crisis

The injunction was issued in a lawsuit filed by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, which accused officials in greater Los Angeles of failing to comprehensively address the homelessness crisis

‘It seems like this order was meant to galvanize action and really compel all parties to start thinking these challenges in a new and innovative way,’ said Daniel Conway, policy adviser for the alliance. ‘The judge has, frankly, issued a challenge: Let´s make this work and let´s start saving lives.’ 

Another 2.98 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

It adds to the 33 million who have sought aid in the two months since the coronavirus first forced millions of businesses to close their doors and shrink their workforces.

The number of first-time applications, however, has now declined for six straight weeks, suggesting that a dwindling number of companies are reducing their payrolls.

By historical standards, though, the latest tally shows that the number of weekly jobless claims remains enormous, reflecting an economy that is sinking into a severe downturn.

Last week’s pace of new applications for aid is still four times the record high that prevailed before the coronavirus struck hard in March.

Jobless workers in some states are still reporting difficulty applying for or receiving benefits. These include freelance, gig and self-employed workers, who became newly eligible for jobless aid this year. 

 

 

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