[Federal Register: November 24, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 226)]
[Notices]               
[Page 65949]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24no03-92]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-51,918]

 
Alstom T&D Industries, High Voltage Switchgear Division, 
Charleroi, PA; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application 
for Reconsideration

    By application of August 26, 2003, a petitioner requested 
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative 
determination regarding eligibility for workers and former workers of 
the subject firm to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). The 
denial notice was signed on August 12, 2003, and published in the 
Federal Register on September 2, 2003 (68 FR 52227).
    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 mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of the 
decision.
    The TAA petition, filed on behalf of workers at Alstom T&D, 
Industries, High Voltage Switchgear Division, Charleroi, Pennsylvania 
was denied because the ``contributed importantly'' group eligibility 
requirement of section 222(3) of the Trade Act of 1974 was not met and 
production was not shifted abroad.
    The worker who filed the reconsideration request stated that 
affiliated companies of Alstom T&D Industries in Mexico produce the 
same products as Alstom T&D Industries, High Voltage Switchgear 
Division, Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Consequently, a decline in 
production and employment at the subject facility is a result of 
increasing production in Mexico facilities.
    Contact with a company official confirmed that Alstom 
International, a parent company of the subject firm, does indeed own a 
facility in Mexico. However, the company official specified that the 
products manufactured in Mexico are not like or directly competitive 
with those produced in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Workers at the Mexico 
facility specialize in production of instrumentation transformers and 
circuit breakers for LIFE tanks, while workers at Alstom T&D, 
Industries, High Voltage Switchgear Division, Charleroi, Pennsylvania 
produce circuit breakers for DEAD tanks. Both facilities cover two 
completely different and unaffiliated markets. Thus, an increase in 
production at the facilities in Mexico has no impact on production and 
employment at the subject facility. The company official stated that 
there was no evidence of a shift from the subject facility to the 
Mexican affiliate or any U.S. imports resulting from this or any other 
foreign production and a decrease in production at Alstom T&D, 
Industries, High Voltage Switchgear Division, Charleroi, Pennsylvania 
is solemnly the result of the overall decrease of demand in the market.

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, DC, this 31st day of October, 2003.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 03-29263 Filed 11-21-03; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-30-P