Restore Jobless Benefit Cuts
; A group of labor unions is sponsoring a voter initiative to restore recent cuts in the DistrictÛªs unemployment compensation benefits, but an unlikely combination of business and labor officials strongly opposes (;he measure.</br></br>; The Food and Allied Service Trades Council (FAST) last week filed with the P.C. Board of Elections and Ethics a proposed initiative that would eliminate the Current $206 weekly cap on benefits, increase taxes on most employers by about $20 to $35 for each employe, guarantee jobless persons 39 weeks of benefits, and restore benefits for workers who voluntarily resign jobs or are fired for cause.</br></br>*	FAST, a coalition of five local unions representing about 45,000 food-service and hotel employes in the region, is seeking to overturn many of the cuts proposed by hlayor Marion Barry and approved by the</br></br>D.G. City Council last March in an attempt to reduce a $57 million deficit in the cityÛªs unemployment compensation fund.</br></br>passed a law which cuts workersÛª benefits too steeply, while failing to tax employers adequately, said Ron Richardson, secretary-treasurer of Local 25 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employes Union.