VEA Fights to Preserve COVID Benefits for ESPs; Town Hall Meeting Planned
July 8, 2021
July 8, 2021
Many of our education support professional members filed for unemployment benefits during the COVID pandemic, often with the encouragement of their supervisors. Now, some are getting letters from the Virginia Employment Commission saying they were ineligible for those benefits and demanding repayment.
Don’t send anyone a dime. Our Union is hard at work making sure you won’t have to return any “overpayments.”
We began by arranging a meeting with Virginia’s new Secretary of Labor, Megan Healy, on her very first day on the job. VEA’s delegation to the meeting included three members who are bus drivers, and Secretary Healy assured them that waiver forms are now available.
If you get a letter from VEC, make your local president or UniServ Director your first call. VEA will help members who can appeal eligibility in addition to providing help with waiver forms and procedures.
We’ll also be holding a town hall meeting online the evening of Thursday, July 29, to provide more information and to answer your questions. Sign up here.
We’re in this together!
The average pay of Virginia public school teachers in 2023-24 was $65,830. That is $4,260 below the national average of $70,090.
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