D.C. Jobless Pay Is Assailed as Too Low
The DistrictÛªs unemployment compensation law was described yesterday as ÛÏone of the worst pieces of social legislation in the United States.Û The indictment came from J. C. Turner, president of the AFL-CIO Greater Washington Central Labor Council. Turner, [was one of the witnesses before a Senate District subcom-</br></br>The maximum weekly payment to an unemployed worker is $30, Turner said, and has been since 1954. Payments are cut off at 26 weeks.</br></br>ÛÏWe are at the bottom of the heap, along with Arkansas,Û said Turner. ÛÏI have asked many individuals how they manage on unemployment compensation and the</br></br>Turner and other union representatives endorsed a bill introduced by Sen. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.l, chairman of the subcommittee that conducted the hearing. The bill would set the top weekly payment at 67 per cent of the average weekly wage paid employes here, including District and Federal workers. Currently, the payment would be $72. The bill also wolud extend the benefit period to 39 weeks.</br></br>Frank A. Gunther, who rep-resented the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade, scupported a second bill which would set the maximum payment at $38 a week and retain the 26-week cutoff.