Before the coronavirus forced me out-of-work, I had been a bartender at Philips Famous Seafood at CLT Airport in Charlotte, NC for 3 years.   I loved my job and hope to return as soon as it becomes safe. But the hospitality industry may not recover for years — and my family needs to eat now.

When my employer let us know we were getting furloughed, I wondered how my family would survive. I have 4 children. Then Congress passed the CARES Act, which included a $600-a-week enhanced unemployment insurance to help tens of millions of workers like me that were jobless no fault of our own.

But that $600 lifeline expired on July 31. And despite the House passing the HEROES Act, which would extend the $600 UI through the end of the year, Mitch McConnell’s Senate continues to sit idly by.

With the Senate now on break for summer recess, I’m asking you to join me in pledging to participate in our fast for action to let our Senators know that the HEROES Act had what workers like me need to keep afloat in these dire and uncertain times. 

I cannot overstate how important this essential program included in the HEROES Act is to the livelihood of my family. We must keep doing everything in our power to put pressure on our U.S. Senators to get the relief that millions of families like mine desperately need. Pledge to fast on August 11 to tell your Senators that workers cannot survive on anything less than the supplemental $600 UI during these times of crises.

As a worker in the hospitality industry that is among the hardest hit by the pandemic, all I know is that Mitch better have my money.