ARLINGTON, Va. — President Donald Trump’s decision to delay negotiations on a new coronavirus stimulus package has frustrated some locals in the Washington region.
On Tuesday, the President announced he would ask his representatives on Capitol Hill to halt their negotiations until after the election on Nov. 3.
Patricia Namyalo, a local restaurant worker from Arlington, said she has been furloughed since March. She said she believes the President is playing games with the livelihoods of Americans like herself.
“You're not just messing with my money as an individual,” Namyalo said. “You are actually messing with the livelihood of our children.”
Namyalo, a single mother of an 8-year-old daughter, said she had plans to buy a home next March until the coronavirus brought everything to a halt.
She said the $600 weekly unemployment that was provided under the original CARES Act helped her family get through the spring and summer. But she said things changed when that program expired later in the year.
“Things got very difficult,” Namyalo said.
Now, she said it has become harder to pay the rent and bills with just $400 a week from unemployment. Namyalo added the job market remains bare.
“I've worked all my life, all my life,” she said. “This is the very first time in my life that I have not worked.”
Namyalo is a member of UNITE HERE Local 25, a union that represents hotel, restaurant, and casino workers in the D.C. region.
UNITE HERE Local 25 spokesperson Benjy Cannon said 90% of his 7,200 members have been laid off.
"The end of the $600 unemployment insurance benefit has been absolutely devastating for our members,” he said.
Both Cannon and Namyalo say something needs to be done now to give families in need aid.
“We are Americans,” she said. "We are hardworking Americans. We've put a lot of hours into our jobs. We are people that enjoy working. We're not sitting here trying to get free money.”