Feds approve Vermont Labor request for further trade certification for laid off IBM workers

The US Department of Labor Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance has issued a determination dated March 7, 2014, determining most of the IBM workers who were laid off in June 2013 as being “trade eligible.” This certification for extended unemployment benefits will include the IBM workers who are facing layoff at end of this month.
This was the second filing by Vermont Department of Labor to the US Department of Labor, as the federal Office of Trade Adjustment had not certified all of the 419 workers that Vermont had asked for in the original petition filed in June 2013.
The new USDOL certification has authorized most of the laid off workers from Essex Junction and Williston, Vermont, “who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after December 24, 2012 through two years from the date of certification, and all workers in the group threatened with total or partial separation from employment on the date of certification through two years from the date of certification.”
The employees who were not deemed eligible in this most recent decision were those employees with (1) the Power Systems Technology, because the USDOL determined that, “the predominant cause for the workers’ separations is the consolidation of the supply of services to an existing IBM Corporation domestic facility”, and (2) those employees in the Game Chip Design because USDOL determined that “the predominant cause for the workers’ separations is the elimination of this function by IBM Corporation.”
The benefits available to a worker that is deemed “trade certified” include: Re-employment Services, Training and education and related expenses, Trade Readjustment allowance, Job Search and Relocation allowance, and Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance.
“The Vermont Department of Labor is grateful for the strong support of Senator Sanders and Governor Shumlin in our pursuit of the Trade Certification from USDOL for the IBM workers. This certification will provide significant, additional benefits and resources for these workers”, said Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan. “The TAA funds enable greater support for education, job training and job placement. The State is committed to helping any dislocated worker, and the most important step is to go to a local Department of Labor office and ask for help."