Labor Day Tales of the Jobless
Updated: Monday, 06 Sep 2010, 5:49 PM MST
Published : Monday, 06 Sep 2010, 5:49 PM MST
PHOENIX - On Labor Day, we honor and celebrate America's workers.
But the job search isn't paying off for many people. They're still trying to stay positive after being out of work for a long time.
Insurance, electricity, groceries, car payments’ it's a constant question of how to pay the next bill.
Martin Piraino and Bill Parfitt have both been out of work for at least a year.
Piraino first moved to Arizona for a job. Two years ago, he lost his job at a data center, and it's been two years since he's had a full-time job.
He worked for the census for several months, but now that the census is over, Piraino is back in the same boat.
He says the only reason he's survived is unemployment benefits and help from his family.
"You just have to keep at it and try to find that right opportunity’ The thing that I think is important is to continue to network," he says. Piraino says he used to earn $19-20 an hour, but is willing to accept $16 or more.
One year ago, Bill Parfitt was driving a truck. He got let go, and has been searching for work online in order to save the gas he still has.
Parfitt says working part-time wouldn't pay off, because he might lose all or most of his government benefits.
"I haven't had nothing. Not one call’ I just got to try to keep my chin up and just keep pounding away," he says.
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