Jobless benefits are taxable
With tax season in full swing, and to help the unemployed get ready, the State of Michigan has completed the mailing of year-end statements to anyone who received unemployment benefits in 2003.

“Unemployment benefits are taxable, and those who received benefits will need these statements in order to do their taxes,” said David Plawecki, deputy director for the Michigan Department of Labor and Growth.

The statements, called 1099-G or “State for Recipients of Unemployment Compensation Payments,” reports how much individuals received in jobless benefits last year. The final batch of forms was mailed Jan. 26.

Plawecki said the state Unemployment Agency has set up special extended hours to handle questions about the 1099-G statements. The extended hours are on Saturdays, Feb. 14 and 21 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The toll-free number is (800) 638-3995. The agency will also open its eight full-service offices on the same two Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to work exclusively on questions about the 1099-G statements.

One frequently asked question the agency receives, Plawecki said, deals with the amount of compensation reported on the 1099-G statements. Because of any court-ordered deductions like any restitution or payments to Friend of the Court, what jobless workers actually receive in unemployment benefits may be less than what is reported on the 1099.

Anti-union financial rules delayed
A federal judged delayed until at least July 1 the effective date of the Bush administration’s burdensome new financial reporting rules for unions.

The rules originally were due to go into effect Jan. 1, but the AFL-CIO
filed suit to block them. On Jan. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler ruled the Bush administration was arbitrary and capricious in choosing the Jan. 1 effective date. Judge Kessler enjoined the new rules until the later of July 1 or 90 days after the Bush administration provides unions with fully tested computer software required to comply with the new rules.

The rules, which are expected to cost unions millions in new accounting costs, order unions to itemize their spending of at least $5,000 per transaction and split it into categories such as bargaining, organizing and politics.

New jobs, lower wages
Not only has America lost 2.4 million jobs since George W. Bush took over the presidency in 2001, but the new jobs being created pay lower wages than the ones disappearing, according to a new study by the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute.

The study found the average pay in industries where jobs are declining, such as manufacturing and information technology, is 26 percent more than the average pay in expanding industries such as leisure and hospitality: $44,570-a-year jobs are being replaced by $35,410-a-year jobs.