[Federal Register: June 2, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 105)]
[Notices]
[Page 32376]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02jn05-105]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
[TA-W-54,952]
VF Intimates, LP, Johnstown, PA; Notice of Determination of
Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance on Remand
The U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT) granted the
Department of Labor's motion for a voluntary remand for further
investigation in Former Employees of VF Intimates, Inc. v. Elaine Chao,
U.S. Secretary of Labor, No. 05-00052, on April 4, 2005.
Workers of VF Intimates, LP, Johnstown, Pennsylvania were certified
as eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) on June 15,
2004. The Notice of determination was published in the Federal Register
on April 1, 2005 (70 FR 16847). An Amended Certification Regarding
Eligibility to Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance for workers of
the subject company was issued on July 21, 2004 and published in the
Federal Register on August 4, 2004 (69 FR 47184).
By letter dated September 29, 2004, a company official requested
that the Department consider certification for Alternative Trade
Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) for workers and former workers covered by
petition TA-W-54,952. The request was dismissed because the application
for ATAA was not filed with the TAA petition, as required by the
Secretary's interpretation of Section 246 of the Trade Act, Training
and Employment Guidance Letter No. 2-03 (August 6, 2003). 69 FR 60904,
October 13, 2004.
By letter dated January 17, 2005, the company official appealed to
the USCIT, asserting that the Department failed to meet certain
administrative obligations by not conducting an ATAA investigation
solely because the request for ATAA was not marked. Specifically, the
company official alleges that the Department processed an incomplete
petition, erroneously assumed that ATAA was not requested when the
question was unmarked, and failed to provide petitioners with
assistance and adequate opportunity to request ATAA because the
requirements for applying are ambiguous.
Upon further consideration, the Department has determined that it
is appropriate to investigate the workers' eligibility for ATAA
benefits, given the circumstances as presented, in order to effectuate
the purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
The group eligibility certification criteria for the ATAA program
under Section 246 the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, established that
the Department must determine whether a significant number of workers
in the workers' firm are 50 years of age or older, whether the workers
in the workers' firm possess skills that are not easily transferable,
and whether the competitive conditions within the workers' industry are
adverse.
The remand investigation revealed that at least five percent of the
workforce at the subject firm was at least fifty years of age as of the
date of the petition (May 18, 2004), the workers possess skills that
are not easily transferable, and competitive conditions within the
industry are adverse.
Conclusion
After careful review of the facts, I conclude that the requirements
of Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, have been met for
workers at the subject firm. In accordance with the provisions of the
Act, I make the following certification:
All workers at VF Intimates, LP, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, who
became totally or partially separated from employment on or after
May 18, 2003 through June 15, 2006, are eligible to apply for
adjustment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974,
and are also eligible to apply for alternative trade adjustment
assistance under Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of May, 2005.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. E5-2796 Filed 6-1-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P