WARREN - Laid-off steelworkers from Warren's idled RG Steel mill are among more than 2,700 out-of-work Trumbull and Mahoning County workers whose incomes after Dec. 29 remain unclear.
This month marks 26 weeks since the mill on Warren's south side declared bankruptcy and closed its doors, leaving more than 1,000 workers to draw the 26 weeks of regular unemployment compensation allowed by state law.
''Pretty much all our members will be running out (of regular unemployment benefits) by January unless they are enrolled in that trade program,'' United Steelworkers Local 1375 president Darryl Parker said.
Article Photos
Tribune Chronicle / Brenda J. Linert
Mark Reed of Warren shows his appointment cards from the Trumbull County One Stop.
Now without an act of Congress, a federally funded unemployment extension program that has existed since 2008 will end Dec. 29, leaving thousands of unemployed workers statewide without income.
The emergency unemployment compensation program, which could provide up to 53 weeks of income benefits while the unemployed continue their job search, is just one aspect of the much debated "fiscal cliff" Americans will face without resolution between the president and Congress.
Facing the culmination of his $850 biweekly unemployment check within the next two weeks, laid-off RG Steel worker Mark Reed of Warren is wondering how he will make ends meet.
Fact Box
In Trumbull
1,377
Unemployed who could see their benefits end Dec. 29
$2.33M
Gross unemployment compensation paid in Nov.
In Mahoning
1,341
Unemployed who could see their benefits end Dec. 29
$1.8M
Gross unemployment
compensation paid in Nov.
"I have no idea. I have a couple options that I am going to try," Reed said Tuesday from his northwest side home. ''Jobs are hard to find. Real hard. Especially at my age. They look at me and say, 'How long is he going to be at work?'"
Reed, 56, said he has worked at the Warren mill for 28 years.
Officials at Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services estimate that 1,377 unemployment compensation claimants in Trumbull County and 1,341 unemployment compensation claimants in Mahoning County will exhaust their unemployment benefits this month.
"This includes those exhausting both 'regular' benefits and the federal extended benefits known as Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or EUC,'' said Angela Terez, spokeswoman for the ODJFS in Columbus.
Total unemployment compensation paid on the state level in November for Trumbull County totaled $2.33 million and about $1.8 million for Mahoning County, ODJFS statistics show.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, is well aware of the possible consequences of losing the federal extension.
In negotiations with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, President Barack Obama has pushed to keep the unemployment compensation extension, Ryan said.
''I think that's essential to any fair deal that can be agreed on down here,'' Ryan said Tuesday from his Washington, D.C., office. ''We are obviously still not out of the woods for a lot of people.
''Whether they are at RG Steel or a lot of other places, it would be bad for the economy - obviously bad for a lot of families - to take that money out of the economy right now as we are starting to pull ourselves out of this (recession),'' Ryan said.
In the meantime, laid-off RG Steel workers may be eligible for the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program, or TAA, created to help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports or shifts in production out of the United States.
TAA trade benefits include a weekly cash benefit and funding for retraining. Eligible participants must be accepted into qualified courses and meet specific criteria, including required deadlines.
''A lot of our members are scrambling to get into a class,'' Parker said.
According to ODJFS, out of an estimated 66,000 people who are expected to exhaust their unemployment benefits in December statewide, fewer than 1,000 have TAA claims.
Still, Ryan and Terez both noted the future of the federally funded TAA program also may be in question.
They both pointed out TAA and workforce development programs are not exempt from sequestration, or the automatic spending cuts that could happen in January.
For now, Reed says he will continue his search, consider re-training options and hope for the reopening of the Warren mill.
''I hope he does reopen the mill,'' Reed said of the mill's new owner who purchased the property out of bankruptcy. ''I will work for him. Even if he cuts our pay. I don't care. It's a job.''