Support Unemployment Law Project to assist laid-off workers

Jeff Johnson, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, send the following letter this summer to all WSLC-affiliated unions:

The Unemployment Law Project (ULP) needs your financial support. ULP was founded in Seattle during the last “Great Recession,” in 1983-1984, when union leadership and labor-side labor lawyers saw the pressing need for providing lawyers for workers applying for unemployment benefits. Based on union support, ULP began to provide free representation, legal advice, and self-help materials to unemployed workers throughout Washington. Since then, ULP has helped thousands of union members secure their unemployment benefits. ULP opened a Spokane office in 2006 to serve workers on the Eastside.

ULP has always had a close partnership with labor. Leadership from the Washington State Labor Council and the ML King County Labor Council has often served on ULP’s Board of Directors. The ULP provides a number of outreach services to union workers, including presentations at the WSLC convention and to local unions. The ULP serves with other labor leaders on the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Committee. In the past several years, the Unemployment Law Project has fought alongside our United Labor Lobby in Olympia to protect unemployed workers during our current devastating recession.

The latest Great Recession has meant that ULP has been besieged by demands for its services at the same time that its funding has been slashed, through no fault of theirs, but due to the widening economic impact of the recession on counties, charitable foundations, and individual donors. Unemployment remains above 7.5% and long-term unemployment is at the highest level ever. So ULP’s services are still much needed.

Many WSLC affiliates have generously contributed to ULP over the years. If you have done so already this year, the ULP thanks you greatly — and hopes you can find a little more. If you have not donated to ULP this year, now is the time to do so. The WSLC urges your support for the ULP and the vital services they provide working families across the state. Even if your members haven’t directly used ULP services, it is important for us all to support the policy work that they do to support our members and our unions.

Please send donations to the Unemployment Law Project, 1904 Third Avenue, Suite 604, Seattle, WA 98101, or CLICK HERE to make a donation online. All donations are tax deductible because ULP is a 501(c)(3) organization.