Ohioans signing petition to extend extra $600 going out in weekly unemployment checks

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Unemployed Ohioans are beginning to worry as extra benefits coming in their checks are nearing an end.

There’s now a national petition to extend the extra $600 per week that people are getting on unemployment.

One woman lost her hostess job in March.

She was receiving unemployment benefits until her restaurant asked her to come back in May.

“I ended up opting not to go back at the time,” she said. “I’m not collecting the unemployment either.”

And, she understands that’s the choice she made.

“I’ve been looking into getting out of restaurant work,” she said.

However, she signed the petition, hoping to help those who remain in the business or anyone else still waiting to return to a job in the struggling service and hospitality industry.

Those who are still laid off have been receiving an extra $600 in addition to their unemployment checks since March.

Now, thousands are worried about what that could mean, especially if more job cuts happen due to another rise in COVID cases.

“Especially with the Fourth of July coming up, I’d hate to see what the end of July’s numbers look like,” Olivia said.

There is of course another side of this story.

19 News found several viewers who didn’t want to go on camera Monday, but are against the move to extend the extra benefits.

They believe the extra benefits are keeping people from seeking out new jobs or going back to one.

Rob Davis has been working hard to earn his money at Quaker Steak and Lube throughout the pandemic.

He said he sees both sides of the argument, but his opinion lies more in the middle.

“I‘m definitely in the middle,” he said. “I do wish they could do more for people that are still working.”

Davis said it’s a shame that the extra $600 seems to have become an incentive for people not to look for a new job.

However, he believes some people are truly stuck right now.

“We have to allow the government to have to be able to help them out,” he said.

It would take an act of congress though to keep the extra benefits flowing after the end of July.

Copyright 2020 WOIO. All rights reserved.