21,000 Get Furlough Notices: Clarke Plans Session To Block D. C. Action
The D.C. government began Û¢ sending furlough notices this week to nbout 21,000 workers, requiring them to take four days of unpaid leave in late August and September, as part of an effort to close a projected $95 million budget def-</br></br>Mayor Marion Barry indicated last week that he intended to go ahead with the controversial furlough plan. He formally approved the furlough in an executive order he signed Monday, signaling that he would veto a bill passed recently by the D.C. Council that would have halted the furloughs.</br></br>City officials said that the furloughs would affect all workers under the mayorÛªs authority, except uniformed police, fire and correc- -tions officers, doctors and nursesÛª and a few other categories of crit- ; ically needed workers. Independent - Û¢< agencies, including the school \ board, will not be affected.</br></br>Agencies were told to try to ÐÊ schedule the furloughs for either j Mondays or Fridays, but that they j could stagger them through thfe -week to minimize the impact on the governmentÛªs daily operations.</br></br>In a letter mailed to employees, City Administrator Carol B, , Thompson justified the furloughs oif' the grounds that the city might ddt) have enough money in its bank count to cover its remaining ex*; penses for the fiscal year that ends:.' Sept. 30.