Video gambling workers file unemployment claims

Tuesday, July 4, 2000 | 10:48 a.m.

Charlie Enzor, office manager for the Myrtle Beach Employment Security Commission office, said some of the workers said they had expected some type of last-minute reprieve for the industry.

On Friday, that happened - briefly - for some workers when a retiring circuit court judge issued a temporary order protecting one video gambling operator from the state's enforcement of its ban on the industry. Within hours, a handwritten order from the state Supreme Court superseded the lower court's order.

By Monday, the State Law Enforcement Division had seized 18 machines that owners continued to operate. It had inspected 7,300 of the 9,400 businesses with the machines and planned to visit the rest, mostly night spots, Monday night.

Chuck Middlebrooks, deputy director for the commission's unemployment insurance programs, said 299 jobless claims had been filed statewide and that 30 were expected in Charleston.

Myrtle Beach reported 54 claims and Columbia had 50. Middlebrooks said those were the highest numbers reported around the state.

Between Monday and Saturday last week, the state took a total of 3,972 jobless claims from workers in the state. Some of those claims include people terminated by video gambling operators, Middlebrooks said.

While the video gambling industry has said more than 30,000 people would lose their jobs, no one knows exactly how many people work in video gambling, Middlebrooks said. Employment Security Commission spokesman Clark Newsom said that some of the industry's workers are part-time and others may spend only part of their time at work monitoring the machines.

More claims are expected later this week and next week. Video gambling operators with more than 26 workers were told to return mass layoff reports by the end of this week. On Saturday, workers who lost jobs can seek unemployment at Lancaster National Guard Armory. A similar program will be held July 11 through July 13 at the Fort Mill National Guard Armory, Newsom said.

There are jobs for people who can take them, Enzor said. "There's well over 1,000 jobs available or more with the hospitality industry at its peak right now" in Myrtle Beach, he said.