Adjustment assistance: United Technologies Automotive,

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Federal Register: May 12, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 91)NoticesPage 26210-26211From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr12my98-117

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-34,174United Technologies Automotive Columbus, Mississippi; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration

By application postmarked April 20, 1998, the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers (IUE), Local 794, requested administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative determination regarding eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), applicable to workers and former workers of the subject firm. The denial notice was signed on March 5, 1998, and published in the Federal Register on March 23, 1998 (63 FR 13878).

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 IUE Local 794 asserts that in December 1996, the production of starter motors and commercial starter motors was shifted from the Columbus, Mississippi plant to Mexico. The IUE Local 794 states that as a result of that shift in production, 225 workers were separated from employment in December 1996, and add that the TAA petition investigation did not include the workers producing these articles.

The January 8, 1998, petition for TAA filedwith Department on behalf of workers at United Technologies

[Page 26211]Automotive located in Columbus, Mississippi, identified fractional H.P. electric motors as the articles produced. Information obtained during the investigation showed that electric motors for windowlift, ABS, and windshield wiper applications was the primary output at the subject plant during the time period covered by the petition.

Section 223(b)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 provides that a trade adjustment assistance certification may not apply to a worker whose separation from employment occurred more than one year prior to the date the petition was filed. The Trade Act does not give the Secretary authority to waive this statutory limitation. Since the December 1996 layoffs were more than one year prior to the January 8, 1998 petition date, the workers producing starter motors and commercial starter motors at Columbus cannot be considered in the TAA petition determination.

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 at Washington, D.C. this 29th day of April 1998. Grant D. Beale, Acting Director, Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.

FR Doc. 98-12564Filed5-11-98; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 4510-30-M

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