Some unemployed workers in Old Fort have found themselves out of the frying pan and in the fire. When the 81 employees at Old Fort's Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing were let go last winter, one of the few consolations they had was the knowledge that, as American workers who have lost their jobs to foreign competition, they would be eligible for education and retraining funding.
Word came last week from the United States Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration that the workers' claim for assistance under the federal TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) program had been rejected. The petition for TAA assistance was filed by a Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing company official in February.
The program is meant to aid workers who have lost their jobs as a result of increased imports. The program was part of the 1974 Trade Act and has provided a parachute for separated workers as they transition into other careers. Recently in McDowell the program has helped former employees of Swift Galey.
The program provides extended compensation after the workers are let go. They can get a 52-week extension after normal unemployment compensation has dried up. They can receive "up to 104 weeks of approved training in occupational skills, basic or remedial education" and an allowance for expenses related to a job search, including an allowance to relocate for a new job, according to the Department of Labor's website.
None of this will apply to the Pisgah workers, however. The April 28 decision states that, in order to be eligible, the production work must have been shifted -- by the company -- to a foreign country. In Pisgah's case, the memo states, production was shifted by the company's purchaser, Spinrite Yarns, a Canadian firm, not by Pisgah.
"A shift of production by the purchasing firm cannot be the basis for certification," the notice states.
Another eligibility requirement is a loss of business to foreign competition. In Pisgah's case, however, business was improving, according to the Department of Labor's findings.
"While the dollar value of sales and production at Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing decreased insignificantly in 2010 from 2009 levels, the quantity of sales and production … increased in 2010 from 2009 levels," the notice states. "Sales to Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Company's major customers increased in 2010 from 2009 levels."
McDowell Tech Admission's Director Rick Wilson said the school had no way of knowing precisely how many displaced Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing employees were currently attending or registered to attend classes at the school.
On the web: http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/taa.htm
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