MAG Super Steve Chucri Has A Day-Job > Head Honcho For Arizona Restaurant Association

Right--to-Work GOP lawmakers at all levels seem determined to create a pool of workers so financially desperate that they’ll work for whatever meager pay employers deign to offer. It’s a barbaric way to treat people, and it betrays a bleak vision of our fellow Americans. There is no crisis of laziness. The only real crisis is that we haven’t ensured that people can go back to meaningful, remunerative work.  

" Arizona restaurants that survived the pandemic are returning to normal capacity levels. What isn’t returning to normal are their employment numbers. 

Across the state, sections of tables are unoccupied with no one to wait on them, and customers are waiting a longer time in line as understaffed kitchens scramble to construct their meals.

A major reason for the lopsided ratio of customers to employees might be the ongoing unemployment checks that have been in effect since last year. ????????????????????

(Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz)

There Is No Crisis of Laziness

Republicans seem determined to make workers so financially desperate that they’ll labor for whatever pay employers deign to offer. 

By Bryce CovertTwitter Today 5:00 am

The Nation

Americans are, in fact, heading back to work, even if it’s not as briskly as some would like. New unemployment claims have been steadily dropping in recent weeks and fell 48 percent between January and late May.

But apparently that progress isn’t fast enough for Republican governors. Collectively, the states that say they will pull out of the enhanced federal benefits are expected to kick as many as 4.1 million people off the rolls this month.

This should come as no surprise. Conservatives have long been hell-bent on trying to force Americans to work by threatening to take away benefits if they don’t. . .

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Steve Chucri is president of the Arizona Restaurant Association. He says paying workers to stay home is no longer necessary and unfair to taxpayers. 

“Look, as a taxpayer I don’t think that’s right,” Chucri said. “I know these people work very hard. But unless you’re going and actively seeking employment, I don’t think you should be getting paid to be sitting at home doing nothing.”

After a year or more at home, workers’ biggest hurdles may be the emotional change of returning in person, says Geoffrey Smith, associate professor at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business. 

“It’s not so much that people may not want to work, it’s that change,” Smith said. “You know, it's having to establish a new routine. And having to actually, you know, get up and go to work. It’s just that first step."

Effective July 10, The state will no longer pay $300 a week in federal supplemental unemployment. Instead, it will offer a $2,000 bonus to anyone who finds a full-time job and $1,000 to those who can get part-time work. They also must stay on the job for at least 10 weeks to receive the bonus."