You know the system is in trouble when the acting director of the Michigan Bureau of Workers' and Unemployment Compensation (BWUC), David Plawecki, asked a group of labor leaders, "Is there anyone here not having problems with us?" No hands were raised.

Plawecki was invited to speak during a break at the Livonia prevailing wage meeting earlier this month. The Gov. Granholm-appointee pledged to do everything in his power to make the system work for Michigan's unemployed workers - but he said it's going to take time.

"It's not a pleasant scenario," Plawecki said Jan. 22. "It's nearly impossible for people to get through on our 800 number, and I can't even answer or make a phone call out of my own office. That's how bad the system was left by the previous administration. There's no excuse for that. People are suffering, they need their unemployment money to buy groceries."

Steve Franklin, business manager of IBEW Local 445 in Battle Creek, and his office manager Tina Southern, said a high unemployment rate at that local and having to deal with the state BWUC has brought about a great deal of frustration from members.

"For a lot of people, the unemployment process is something they haven't been through before," Franklin said. "They want someone to say, 'now you do this, now you do that, and now you wait for your check.' This is an agency that's supposed to give a helping hand, but that's not what our people are getting."

Added Southern, who has helped a lot of members through the process: "A lot of people just want to be able to talk to someone to see if they're doing things the right way. Most of the time they can't even get through. There's only one person in the Battle Creek office."

Plawecki said the problems in the department can be traced to one factor: lack of staffing. Four years ago, he said manpower in the department was 1,300 employees. About 200 were lost during a statewide hiring freeze over the last three years, and another 400 good, experienced workers went out the door on Nov. 1 in an early retirement program.

"We're down to 700 employees to handle a higher claims load," Plawecki said. "We're in the process of hiring 150 temporary employees, but they're inexperienced. Often they're just there to hand out claim forms. At some offices, often it's just the janitor. Only a few offices have staff who know what they're doing."

Plawecki said some workers who retired Nov. 1 are being coaxed back to work on a temporary basis and to get the system moving in the right direction again. "We're bending the rules to make it happen," he said. "Gov. Granholm wants to make sure this is done right."