[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55048-55049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23343]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-37,493 and NAFTA-3802]


Levi Strauss & Company, RMQ Lab, Pellicano Finishing Plant, El 
Paso, Texas; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for 
Reconsideration

    By application dated August 1, 2000, filed by the petitioners, and 
August 21, 2000, filed by the company, administrative reconsideration 
is requested regarding the Department's negative determination of 
eligibility for workers of the subject firm to apply for Trade 
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) under petition number TA-W-37,493 and North 
American Free Trade Agreement-Transitional Adjustment Assistance 
(NAFTA-TAA) under petition number NAFTA-3802. The denial notices were 
signed on July 17, 2000, and published in the Federal Register on 
August 1, 2000 (65 FR 46954).
    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

[[Page 55049]]

    (3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a 
misinterpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of 
the decision.
    The petitioners report that prior to the Pellicano plant closure, 
workers tested both domestic and foreign production. When the Pellicano 
plant closed, the workers at the Raw Material Quality Department (RMQ) 
lab in El Paso were left with only testing Mexican contractor's 
production and domestic and Mexican fabric. The petitioners state that 
there was no lab in Powell, Tennessee, until the El Paso lab shut down.
    The company official's request for reconsideration emphasizes that 
Levi Strauss & Company closed six production plants in the El Paso 
area. Because of these closures, Levi Strauss & Company closed the El 
Paso Pellicano lab, and all employees were terminated in October 1999. 
The company states that imports contributed to the decision to close 
the six plants and the Pellicano lab. The company further states that 
an RMQ was created in Powell, Tennessee, using fewer workers than in 
the El Paso RMQ.
    The workers at Levi Strauss & Company, RMQ lab, at the Pellicano 
Finishing Plants, El Paso, Texas, engaged in testing and quality 
control of denim products were denied eligibility to apply for TAA and 
NAFTA-TAA based on the findings that worker separations were 
attributable to the company's decision to have the RMQ lab work done at 
another domestic facility of Levi Strauss.
    The petitioners and the company official both assert that some 
former El Paso lab employees are eligible for NAFTA-TAA. Our petition 
records do not show that a NAFTA-TAA certification has been issued for 
the RMQ workers.

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 30th day of August 2000.
Edward A. Tomchick,
Director, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 00-23343 Filed 9-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M