The long-term unemployed and Gregg Rosen, the co-founder of the recently-formed American 99ers Union, got respect from FOX News on Saturday night. And set a precedent in becoming the first representative of the 99er community to be invited on the right-wing media outlet.

In the 3-minute interview Rosen, a 42-year-old former sales and marketing manager from Pennsylvania, expressed the reason the growing number of unemployed need an additional unemployment extension, and why the nation’s economy would benefit from from their restored buying power. “If you put money back into the hands of millions of Americans, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, allow them to invest back into the economy, what’s going to happen? You’re going to see consumer spending go up; in turn, you’re going to see consumer confidence rise among those individuals who are working, which means that they’re going to start spending more. Based on the laws of supply and demand, what happens when the demand starts to put a strain on the suppliers? They have to expand. What does that equal? Job creation!”

The American 99ers Union is a grass-roots coalition of 18 unem- ployment advocacy groups, with a strong and growing membership, presently estimated at 100,000 active participants nationwide. It was co-founded by Rosen and Michael White, a 58- year-old former video editor from Los Angeles. Rosen is the Director of the Advocacy For the Long Term Unemployed (AFLTU) and Tier 5 Unemployment Extension Needed. White is President of the Unemployed Workers Action Group, which staged a successful rally on the steps of Federal Hall in New York City on August 12th. Both felt it was time for the various advocacy groups to join together under one large banner, to make a greater impact and to draw media attention to the cause of the long-term unemployed.

The union conducted its first unified effort — a massive fax, phone and email campaign — on September 22nd, urging all members to send their own two senators a prepared document the union had composed as an official statement, presenting a united front with a single laser-focused message. Their position was to press the Senate to bring the Americans Want to Work Act (S.3706) up for a vote this coming week. The American 99ers Union is planning another campaign for the weekend of October 2nd, to coincide with the One Nation Working Together march on Washington, D.C.

-By Yvonne Fitzner, Contributing Writer & Member