GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Thousands of Michiganders are now back to work, but a lot of them still have not received their unemployment benefits.
A local bus driver is worried like others because he’s back on the job now and can’t sit at home all day calling the UIA.
Even though the governor and UIA director have said everyone eligible will get paid, people are still nervous and not getting any answers on their back pay.
Robert Bour is in his 13th year of driving for The Rapid.
He started back on Monday after being off for more than two months.
For the first time in 33 years he filed for unemployment and his HR department even tried to help.
“They actually said that they had a contact and they faxed over information on myself to them hoping it would help and still nothing,” said Bour.
He got laid off May 22nd and tried filing two days later but the system locked him out.
He finally got through to a couple agents. One said he needed an “accelerated department” while the other apparently told him his issues were fixed.
When he went online though, he found out that was not the case.
“So, the first seven weeks the certify, where it said ‘your money will go into your account’ then two days later says stop payment indicator. Very frustrating,” he said.
He has them all the way back to May.
As we’ve reported several times, “Stop Payment” notices were issued to thousands of people to help prevent fraud. Before its cleared, claimants have to prove their identity.
“And I’ve done that,” said Bour. “My driver’s license, social security number, my birth certificate, my voter ID. I did all of that four weeks ago and still nothing.”
He showed us the proof that he sent in multiple messages to the UIA on his MiWAM account and they still have not been answered.
He says he wasn’t told how to correct it or to even upload documents, but he did so anyway.
“Yes it’s very frustrating to have to do all of that,” he said.
That’s when he contacted State Representative Luke Meerman of Ottawa County.
“The government has asked people to not work, told people they can’t work, businesses to shut down and now we have a system that is really not working for those that need unemployment,” said Meerman.
His office is also trying to help Bob and others who reach out.
But even lawmakers are sometimes left in the dark and turn to media like FOX 17 for help getting through.
“I have to keep looking for ways to advocate for those people that are still waiting,” said Meerman. “And I appreciate you and your advocating for them too. I think that’s what we’re left with is to cry it from the rooftops that, you know, things aren’t still right for many people.”
Which is also why Bob decided to share his story.
“I just feel sorry for people that have no savings that got laid off and are going through the same thing that I’m going through. So hopefully someone of this or whatever we can do with this will help other people also,” said Bour.
After talking with us about his case, the UIA released nearly $8,000 that was held up in Bob’s account.
If you need to reach out to your state lawmakers about your case, you can find your state senator by clicking here – or reach out to your state representative here.
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August 06, 2020 at 06:08AM
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Bus driver back to work; still concerned about unemployment payments - Fox17
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