[Federal Register: April 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 74)]
[Notices]
[Page 20644-20645]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16ap04-88]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment And Training Administration
[TA-W-53,648]
International Business Machines Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma;
Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for
Reconsideration
By application of February 6, 2004, a petitioner requested
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative
determination regarding eligibility for workers and former workers of
the subject firm to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). The
denial notice applicable to workers of International Business Machines
Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma was signed on December 2, 2003, and
published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2004 (69 FR 2622).
Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted under
the following circumstances:
(1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously considered
that the determination complained of was erroneous;
(2) If it appears that the determination complained of was based on
a mistake in the determination of facts not previously considered; or
(3) If in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a
misinterpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of
the decision.
The TAA petition was filed on behalf of workers at International
Business Machines Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma, engaged in accounting
services. The petition was denied because the workers' firm does not
produce an article within the meaning of section 222 of the Trade Act
of 1974. Indeed, IBM does not produce an article at the Tulsa facility.
The petitioner refers to the British Petroleum Accounting Center
operated by IBM which was certified eligible for TAA in 1999. The
petitioner further states that layoffs at the subject firm can be
attributed to the decision of British Petroleum to shift its oil
production abroad, consequently, the petitioning workers should be
eligible for trade adjustment assistance.
A company official was contacted in regard to these allegations.
The official stated that there is no affiliation between the subject
facility and British Petroleum. It was also revealed that International
Business Machines Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma provides accounting
services to British Petroleum at many locations in the United States
and abroad out of its own facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The fact that service workers have customers or clients that may be
eligible for trade adjustment assistance does not automatically make
the service workers eligible for TAA. Before service workers can be
considered eligible for TAA, they must be in direct support of an
affiliated facility currently certified for TAA or employed on a
contractual basis at a location currently certified for TAA. This is
not the case for the workers at International Business Machines
Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The petitioner further alleges that ``the center in Tulsa, OK has
previously been covered under the TRA program,'' thus petitioning
workers of the subject firm should also be eligible for TAA.
The same workers have been providing the same accounting services
at the same Tulsa location for a number of years. However, the identity
of their employer has changed twice over the pertinent period. Thus,
the Department's records indicate workers, including accountants then
working at the Tulsa facility, at AMOCO Exploration and Production, and
AMOCO Shared Services, operating in the state of Oklahoma, were
certified eligible to apply for adjustment assistance on February 19,
1999 (TA-W-36,309N). That certification was amended on March 14, 1999,
to reflect new ownership and a name change to BP/AMOCO, AMOCO
Exploration and Production, AMOCO Shared Services, A/K/A AMOCO
Production Company, Inc., operating in the state of Oklahoma. Workers
certified in that instance were determined to be ``engaged in
activities related to exploration and production of crude oil and
natural gas.'' That certification expired February 19, 2001. Thus,
there is no current certification of eligibility for workers at the
Tulsa facility. The previous certification has no bearing on the
determination of eligibility at this time.
Department records show no previous certifications for the Tulsa
facility on the part of the current owner of the Tulsa facility,
International Business Machines Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The petitioner finally states that International Business Machines
Corporation, Tulsa, Oklahoma has moved a significant number of jobs to
India.
Accounting services do not constitute production according to the
eligibility requirements for trade adjustment assistance. Thus, the
alleged shift of jobs to India is irrelevant to this investigation.
[[Page 20645]]
Only in very limited instances are service workers certified for
TAA. The worker separations must be caused by a reduced demand for
their services from a parent or controlling firm or subdivision whose
workers produce an article and who are currently under certification
for TAA. Unlike the workers at the Tulsa, Oklahoma location employed
under the AMOCO corporate umbrella, workers at International Business
Machines, Tulsa, Oklahoma do not perform services for a parent or
controlling firm or subdivision currently under certification for TAA.
Conclusion
After review of the application and investigative findings, I
conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of the law
or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of the Department
of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the application is denied.
Signed in Washington, DC, this 31st day of March, 2004.
Richard Church,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. E4-862 Filed 4-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-13-P