September 13: Private Sector Must Show Congress How Not To Discriminate Against Unemployed

By Sylvia Gurinsky

Bills have been introduced in Congress that would prevent employers from discriminating against job applicants who are currently unemployed. But knowing how the Tea Party Blockheads in Congress are behaving - "Blockhead" is the appropriate word to describe what they're doing to legislation and the country - only a major public clamor can get such a law approved.

President Barack Obama could probably issue executive orders to a point. But American workers - and some American businesses - could do more to get Congress' ear:

*Organize marches and protests similar to the workers' marches of the 1930s.

*Campaign to prevent newspapers and job-listing sites such as Craigslist from listing any jobs that ban currently unemployed people.
If employers can't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, creed, physical/mental ability or sexual orientation, they shouldn't be able to discriminate on the basis of employment - and the media shouldn't help them do so.

*Boycott companies that discriminate against the unemployed in their hiring practices.

*Lobby municipal and (where possible) state leaders to campaign against such discrimination.

The vast majority of men and women who have lost their jobs during this recession are not to blame - particularly in cases where their former bosses were only interested in profits at the expense of personnel. They need support - not suffering - in finding new jobs.