GE Transportation workers won't be eligible for trade assistance

Those laid off won't get money
By JIM MARTIN
jim.martin@timesnews.com
Federal Trade Adjustment Assistance helped soften the blow for many of the 700-plus local International Paper Co. workers who lost their jobs in 2002.

Early indications suggest, however, that those government benefits won't be available to 1,480 GE Transportation workers expected to lose their jobs in November as part of one of the biggest layoffs in recent memory.
TAA, available to workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition, extends unemployment benefits and provides money for retraining and relocation. The program has been used locally by workers from Bush Industries, Van de Kamp's, Steris Corp., American Meter, EMI, and Owens-Illinois Closure, among others.
Stephan Koller, a spokesman for GE Transportation, said the U.S. Department of Labor approached the company to collect information for the TAA application....READ MORE
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