Louisiana rallies held in effort to keep $600 benefit

Associated Press

4 years ago

FILE - In this July 24, 2020, file photo, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., delivers remarks to media after registering as a candidate to run as an incumbent in Baton Rouge, La. More than a dozen unions and citizens’ groups say unemployed workers will demonstrate at U.S. senators’ offices in nine Louisiana cities to demand continued $600 federal coronavirus unemployment benefits. Sens. Cassidy and John Kennedy are among Republicans supporting Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal to cut that benefit to $200 a week on top of state unemployment pay. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than two dozen unemployed workers have gathered for the first of nine demonstrations planned in Louisiana to demand continued $600 federal unemployment benefits.

Protesters chanted on Thursday outside the offices of Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy. Both senators support Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal to reduce the benefit to $200 a week for people out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Demonstrations also have been held or scheduled in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Metairie, Mandeville, Houma, Monroe and Shreveport.

They were organized by a coalition of labor unions and activist groups.