Kansas woman continues protest over unemployment benefits, has begun drinking water
A Wellington woman staging a hunger strike in front of the Kansas Department of Labor has begun drinking water and nutritional shakes as her protest continues.
Re’Nae Pherigo, 29, launched a hunger strike outside the agency’s Topeka offices on Monday in an effort to gain benefits she says she’s owed by the department and to draw attention to other Kansans who have struggled for assistance.
Pherigo says she is one of many Kansans who have grown frustrated with the state’s unemployment office during the pandemic.
The Department of Labor and its 40-year-old IT system have been inundated with a record number of claims, complicated federal programs and high levels of fraud since COVID-19 reached Kansas in March.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has said her office is working to address the problems but has been hamstrung by historic under-funding of the state’s labor department.
Pherigo initially planned to refrain from drinking water until she received her benefits and to stop eating until she got a sense that the situation was improving for other Kansans. She began drinking water and nutritional shakes, Pherigo said, to protect her health.
She has been spending time outside the KDOL office during the day and staying in a hotel at night.
In a phone call, Friday, Pherigo said she no longer knew what would cause her to end the demonstration and that she now hopes to draw attention to challenges with unemployment systems nationwide.
“I am going to stay out here until I figure out what my next step is,” Pherigo said.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 6:45 PM.
