Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe O l d e n b u r g
Kaiserstr. 19
D-26122 Oldenburg (Oldenburg)
Date: Sun, 09 Aug 1998 02:58:48 -0400 From: Julie Star star@nwonline.net To: workfare-discuss@icomm.ca Subject: [Fwd: Volunteer work and the dole]
Dear listmembers,
First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Julie Star. Some of you I know have seen my posts on the IWPR and WLC lists. I am a 38 year old college student/veteran/welfare recipient/activist. I got involved with fighting welfare reform last summer after my workfare hours raised from 8 hours per week to 20 hours per week while I was attending school full time working on two associate degrees simultaneously. We started hearing rumors that our hours would be raised even further to 40 hours per week so I started doing some research. I found the IWPR listserv and posted my story. Marc Cohan from the Welfare Law Center in New York saw my posts and offered his help in fighting "deform" here in Ohio.
In October of last year, the Sandusky County Department of Human Services (SCDHS) wanted me to sign a new self-sufficiency contract agreeing to work 40 hours per week for them. They were assigning all recipients to 40 hours across the board irregardless of their benefit amounts. I filed for a state hearing stating that the contract was illegal. With the help of Marc at WLC and Bill Senhauser at the Equal Justice Foundation in Toledo Ohio we were able to get SCDHS as well as the Ohio Department of Human Services to comply with Minimum Wage Laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
I have filed for three more state hearings since then on various issues. Only the last has actually gone to hearing. It is based on the fact that I was improperly assessed and assigned to my current workfare position. The have me working in the Counties mock up factory. In my hearing I also claimed that I thought some of the jobs that I was being asked to do there could be detrimental to my health. The sent me for a medical evaluation and because it came back saying that I could not perform my required job duties they purposely tried to keep the report from me until after my hearing. They are still keeping me working in the same place doing the same jobs with some modifications while we are awaiting hearing results.
That is my story. I learned a lot about what is going on in Canada watching the discussion with C. Ditmar. Please excuse me if it takes me a bit to get up to par as this is all new to me. I will keep you informed as to what is going on down here in Ohio.
I look forward to some lively discussions with all of you and hope that together we can stop this madness!
Resisting in Ohio! Julie Star 1240 Sycamore St. Fremont, Oh 43420 (419) 334-8205 star@nwonline.net
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Last Modified: October 1998