Unemployment Workers Union Hold Rally Thursday Night In Baltimore Over Flagged Claims, Unavailability

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — “It’s conscionable been precise challenging to instrumentality a measurement guardant each azygous time erstwhile it feels arsenic if the authorities does not attraction astir its ain people, arsenic if the authorities doesn’t attraction astir the suffering it’s inflicting upon Marylanders,” said Turrel David astatine a rally for the unemployed Thursday successful Baltimore City.

For months, David waited for his unemployment benefits but helium ne'er got a dime and didn’t cognize why. Then, helium recovered retired his assertion was considered fraudulent.

“I’m not a fraud, right,” David asked the assemblage astatine Thursday’s rally. “I’m doing the champion I tin to get backmost connected my feet.”

But he’s present 1 of astir 1.5 cardinal flagged claims the Department of Labor said person been flagged.

“Of those claims that were flagged, we determined that 92 percent of 1.2 cardinal were fraudulent,” said David McGlone, Deputy Secretary for the Maryland Dpt. of Labor during a gathering connected pandemic spending Thursday.

The gathering was hosted by State Comptroller, Peter Franchot, who grilled officials with the Department of Labor astir fraud, unpaid benefits and their customer service.

“I’m acrophobic that the Department seems to conflict to reply the phones and emails adjacent present successful a timely manner,” said Franchot.

“Once they’re successful the queue, it’s gotten down to 4 minutes,” replied McGlone, who said they’ve hired much staffers successful their telephone halfway but inactive person a constricted fig of agents.

“If we get a fractional a cardinal calls successful a week, not everybody is getting into the queue,” helium added.

“I telephone them 15 times a day,” said William Gibson astatine Thursday’s rally, “and nothing.”

“There’s been an tremendous battle connected the nationalist treasuries by fraudsters successful this country and we conscionable request to larn the facts truthful we’re much prepared adjacent time, God forbid, if it ever happens again,” Franchot said.

McGlone said the Department of Labor has processed implicit 97% of morganatic claims and paid implicit $13 cardinal successful benefits.