Laid-off southern Maine restaurant workers getting official help

PORTLAND, Maine — A group of community-based, worker-focused agencies is hosting two unemployment information sessions in the city next week for the growing number of locals laid off in an ongoing spate of restaurant closures.
The statewide Peer Workforce Navigator Program is spearheading the effort. It’s the first time the organization has aimed its help at Portland’s restaurant industry, which has seen at least a dozen eateries shuttered since August.
“We’re not sure how many people the closures have affected, but it’s in the hundreds,” said Catherine Buxton, a manager of the program. “We want to build a bridge between workers and the Department of Labor.”
The involvement of those agencies speaks to the high number of food and drink establishments that have closed in recent weeks.
In past years, the Workforce Navigator Project has mostly dealt with workers laid off from large production facilities including Abbott Laboratories, which eliminated more than 200 jobs in 2023. But the smaller-but-steady loss of jobs in Portland’s restaurant industry has now added up to a significant number, Buxton said.
The Navigator Project is a coalition of six community organizations funded by the state and U.S. labor departments. Its goal is to connect workers with unemployment benefits and job retraining programs they may not know they are qualified to receive.
The two sessions will be on Monday, Nov. 4, from 1 to 3 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Southern Maine Workers Center office at 56 North St. in Portland’s East End.
The Workers Center hosts regular workers’ rights clinics and is providing free childcare for anyone attending the events. Interpreters will be on hand for French and Spanish speakers. Individual Workers Center staff members who speak Arabic, Swahili, Portuguese and Lingala will also be available to help workers one-on-one.
Buxton said her organization has significant expertise working with non-English speakers who may find it difficult to navigate the state’s online unemployment benefits system. She also said tipped workers, like waitstaff and kitchen help, often don’t realize they qualify for unemployment insurance.
“We could help them find a new restaurant gig or help them go back to school, as well,” Buxton said.
Buxton is hoping to see at least 20 or 30 people take part in the popups but would welcome more.
“There are always restaurant closures this time of year,” Buxton said. “But this year, there are even more than usual.”