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Michigan Unemployment Agency Waives Work Registration for GM Workers

12 June 1998

Michigan Unemployment Agency Waives Work Registration for GM Workers

    DETROIT, June 11 -- General Motors workers
displaced by the parts shortage created by the labor dispute in Flint will not
have to register for work when they apply for unemployment benefits.
    "Although we have not yet made any decision about the payment of
unemployment benefits to workers displaced by the GM strike, we have decided,
based on our administrative rules, to waive the work registration requirement
for those who apply for benefits," Jack Wheatley, acting director of the
Unemployment Agency, announced today.
    Without the waiver, workers who file for benefits would have to visit
their local Michigan Works! agency and register for work by uploading their
resumes onto Michigan's Talent Bank on the Internet.
    "We believe the work registration would be an unnecessary burden for the
worker," Wheatley explained.  "Especially, since at this stage, they are not
'true' job seekers as they fully expect to return to their GM jobs once the
strike ends."
    In addition, Wheatley noted, employers who use the Talent Bank to find job
candidates would spend time and energy considering GM workers who have no
intention of leaving their jobs should those workers be required to register
with Talent Bank.
    The work registration waiver will only apply to GM workers.  Wheatley
said, he expects that suppliers affected by the GM strike will notify the
agency directly if their laid off workers are job attached or not.