[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 110 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 33766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2944]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-54,952]


VF Intimates, LP Johnstown, PA; Notice of Determination of 
Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance on Remand

    The U.S. Court of International Trade (USCIT) granted the 
Department of Labor's motion for a voluntary remand for further 
investigation in Former Employees of VF Intimates, Inc. v. Elaine Chao, 
U.S. Secretary of Labor, No. 05-00052, on April 4, 2005.
    Workers of VF Intimates, LP, Johnstown, Pennsylvania were certified 
as eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) on June 15, 
2004. The Notice of determination was published in the Federal Register 
on April 1, 2005 (70 FR 16847). An Amended Certification Regarding 
Eligibility to Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance for workers of 
the subject company was issued on July 21, 2004 and published in the 
Federal Register on August 4, 2004 (69 FR 47184).
    By letter dated September 29, 2004, a company official requested 
that the Department consider certification for Alternative Trade 
Adjustment Assistance (ATAA) for workers and former workers covered by 
petition TA-W-54,952. The request was dismissed because the application 
for ATAA was not filed with the TAA petition, as required by the 
Secretary's interpretation of section 246 of the Trade Act, Training 
and Employment Guidance Letter No. 2-03 (August 6, 2003). 69 FR 60904, 
October 13, 2004.
    By letter dated January 17, 2005, the company official appealed to 
the USCIT, asserting that the Department failed to meet certain 
administrative obligations by not conducting an ATAA investigation 
solely because the request for ATAA was not marked. Specifically, the 
company official alleges that the Department processed an incomplete 
petition, erroneously assumed that ATAA was not requested when the 
question was unmarked, and failed to provide petitioners with 
assistance and adequate opportunity to request ATAA because the 
requirements for applying are ambiguous.
    Upon further consideration, the Department has determined that it 
is appropriate to investigate the workers' eligibility for ATAA 
benefits, given the circumstances as presented, in order to effectuate 
the purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. The group 
eligibility certification criteria for the ATAA program under section 
246 the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, established that the Department 
must determine whether a significant number of workers in the workers' 
firm are 50 years of age or older, whether the workers in the workers' 
firm possess skills that are not easily transferable, and whether the 
competitive conditions within the workers' industry are adverse.
    The remand investigation revealed that at least five percent of the 
workforce at the subject firm was at least fifty years of age as of the 
date of the petition (May 18, 2004), the workers possess skills that 
are not easily transferable, and competitive conditions within the 
industry are adverse.

Conclusion

    After careful review of the facts, I conclude that the requirements 
of Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, have been met for 
workers at the subject firm. In accordance with the provisions of the 
Act, I make the following certification:

    ``All workers at VF Intimates, LP, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, who 
became ``totally or partially separated from employment on or after 
March 6, 2004 through June 15, 2006, 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 under Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974.''

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of May 2005.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. E5-2944 Filed 6-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P