Their employers shut down. Now, these Boise workers wonder how they’ll pay their bills
On a typical day, Bar Gernika cook Alexis Rickers prepares deep-fried croquetas, chorizos and pork solomo sandwiches.
No longer.
She learned Wednesday that the Basque restaurant in Boise’s Basque Block is shutting down because of the coronavirus. The closure was announced to customers through a post on Bar Gernika’s Facebook page. Rickers and her co-workers will be out of work for the foreseeable future.
“I don’t know, really, what I’m going to do for income for the next month,” Rickers, 27, who has worked for the restaurant for about eight months, said by phone. “I have, hopefully, enough to get by, and I’m lucky enough to have a supportive family, if I need help.”
The coronavirus crisis has delivered a powerful blow to the Treasure Valley economy, and the nation’s. Bookings at hotels are collapsing. So is patronage at many restaurants and bars. As each day passes, additional businesses announce temporary shutdowns — their owners sometimes wondering if they’ll be able to reopen at all.
“Over a span of a few days, our members have experienced a dramatic decline in business activity and decreased revenues,” the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce said in a news release Tuesday.
Dozens of restaurant and bar owners, mostly from Boise, are signatories to a draft letter to Gov. Brad Little asking that he shutter the industry immediately and provide emergency unemployment payments for its workers, including a waiver of the unpaid “waiting week” that workers must get through before receiving jobless benefits.
On Thursday, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean ordered a halt to dining inside bars and restaurants for 30 days effective Friday. Takeout, drive-thru and delivery options are still allowed.
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that it will ask Congress for $500 billion in direct payouts to taxpayers. The specific amount has not been announced. It may vary based on income level and family size.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, proposed giving every adult $1,000. A group of Senate Democrats suggested giving out as much as $4,500 per person.
The Idaho Department of Labor expects an onslaught of new unemployment filings as businesses shut down, pushing up Idaho’s 2.9% unemployment rate.
One potential claimant is Beth Norton, who was profiled in a Statesman story last week when she lost her job Saturday after her employer, Voicebox Karaoke, closed temporarily.
Norton said Wednesday that she’s not sure she will have enough to pay her rent in April and cover other expenses.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to find some emergency relief by that point, whether it’s the new federal government cash distribution policy that they’re looking at, or unemployment benefits,” Norton said by phone.
Tyler Brewington, a freelance writer and copy editor, lost his job leading a couple of drop-in writing workshops at The Cabin in Boise. He was also set to teach a six-week Cabin workshop starting in mid-April. They’ve all be canceled.
“I’m starting to get really nervous about how I’m going to pay my rent in a couple of months,” Brewington said by phone. “I’m fortunate to have some money in savings, but it’s going fast.”
On Thursday, Megan Ramey, program manager at The Cabin, said that Brewington would be paid for the drop-in workshops that were canceled. The six-week workshop will be rescheduled, she said.
“We are all working really hard to do right by our teaching-artists,” she said.
In an email, executive director Kurt Zwolfer said Brewington and The Cabin’s other writers were informed a week ago that they would be paid even though the drop-in program would be suspended through the semester.
“The longer workshops haven’t been canceled,” Zwolfer said in an email. “Instead we postponed them for a few weeks to see if we could find a safe way (online) or time (maybe a few months down the road) to hold the program.”
Applying for unemployment compensation
Rickers and other workers who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, already are eligible for unemployment compensation, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.
If their employers plan to reopen within 16 weeks, the workers won’t be required to seek other employment, spokeswoman Georgia Smith said. If the workers apply for benefits the same week they’re laid off, that week will count as their unpaid waiting week, she said.
A Frequently Asked Questions section specifically for workers who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus has been set up by the Department of Labor. It explains who is eligible for unemployment benefits and how to apply.
Workers placed in isolation because of coronavirus but who have not been diagnosed with it may also be eligible for benefits.
Workers should apply for benefits online if possible, Smith said. They may also apply by calling 208-332-8942 and speaking to a claims specialist.
“We are very busy and our claims specialists are very busy,” Smith said by phone. “We’ve been working on making sure we could accommodate taking clients by phone for quite some time, and it’s paying off.”
On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced all of its offices will be closed until April 3.
“We are still open for business and available to serve our customers,” Idaho Department of Labor Director Jani Revier said in a press statement. “These closures simply allow us to do our part to help slow the transmission of COVID -19.”
This story has been updated to include a mention of Boise Mayor Lauren McLean’s order banning dining in restaurants and bars for 30 days.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
