FORMER WATERLOO INDUSTRIES EMPLOYEES RECEIVE TRADE READJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE
Expired Benefits Returned to Muskogee Company Employees Under Trade Act of 1974

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission announced today that displaced workers of Waterloo Industries, Inc. in Muskogee, Okla., are eligible to receive assistance.  Personnel from Quality Staffing in Muskogee who also worked at the business are included in this group. The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that former employees of the facility meet requirements to receive Trade Readjustment Assistance (TRA) according to the Trade Act of 1974 (19 USC 2273). TRA is available to individuals who become unemployed as a result of increased imports or a shift in production out of the country. The goal is to help laid-off workers return to suitable employment as quickly as possible.

To qualify for TRA, workers must meet three criteria: 1) they must be laid off or threatened with layoff; 2) sales or production must have decreased; and 3) increases in imports of products like or directly competitive with products made by the firm must contribute to layoffs or the threat of layoffs. An added condition is that workers must be enrolled in training either eight (8) weeks after certification or 16 weeks after their last qualifying separation from adversely affected employment. The state may also grant a waiver of training enrollment to remove this qualification for some individuals.

The report concludes “all workers of Waterloo Industries, Inc., Muskogee, Oklahoma Division, including leased workers from Quality Staffing, Muskogee, Oklahoma, who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after February 4, 2003, through two years from the date of certification, are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974.” The first day of eligibility (date of certification) for TRA is March 2, 2004. Separated employees who would like to take advantage of this assistance should contact their nearest Workforce Oklahoma Center at 1-888-980-WORK (9675).

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