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Contact: John Carpenter Public Information Officer (405) 557-5469 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4, 2004 | ||
FORMER
UMICORE OPTICAL MATERIAL EMPLOYEES RECEIVE TRADE READJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE Expired Benefits Returned to Company’s Oklahoma Employees Under Trade Act of 1974 OKLAHOMA
CITY, OK – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission announced today that
displaced workers of Umicore Optical Material USA in
Quapaw, Okla., are eligible to receive assistance. The U.S. Department of
Labor has ruled that former employees of the Oklahoma
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 Umicore Optical Material USA, Quapaw, Oklahoma, who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after March 10, 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 and are also eligible to apply for Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) under Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974.” The first day this assistance is available (date of certification) is April 9, 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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