Terms of Jobless Pay Bill Decided: Negotiators Decide on Terms Of Compensation for Jobless
Negotiators for WashingtonÛªs employers and organized labor agreed over the weekend to terms for an overhaul of the cityÛªs unemployment compensation program and the imposition of a new tax to repay a $67 million debt the jobless fund owes to the U.S. treasury.</br></br>Wilhelmina Rolark (D-Ward 8), chairwoman of the D.C. City CouncilÛªs Employment and Economic Development Committee, said last night that the agreement clears the way for early council passage of a billÛÓstalled since AprilÛÓto revamp the compensation program.</br></br>In reaching the agreement, the Metropolitan Washington Board of Thade, the cityÛªs principal employer organization, reluctantly dropped Its demand that all jobless benefits be eliminated for workers who quit jobs voluntarily or are fired for gross misconduct.</br></br>Such workers now are disqualified from receiving benefits for five to nine weeks after they leave their jobs. Under the now agreement, such workers would be disqualified for seven to 13 weeks, with the time to be set in each case by the D.C. Unemployment Compensation Board.</br></br>The terms of the agreement were disclosed, in separate telephone interviews, by John R. Tydings, executive vice president of the Board of Trade, and Minor Christian, legislative chairman of the Greater Washington Central Labor Council.