[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26210-26211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12564]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration
[TA-W-34,174]


United 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 filed with 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. 98-12564 Filed 5-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M