Austintown plant workers qualify for trade asisstance benefits

AUSTINTOWN

About 170 laid off workers at the Comprehensive Logistics/Source Providers plant in Austintown have qualified for Trade Adjustment Assistance.

TAA program benefits from the U.S. Department of Labor include employment and case management services; training; Trade Adjustment Allowance; job search allowance; and a wage subsidy for up to two years that is available to re-employed older workers.

To be approved for TAA basically means the laid-off workers are able to take advantage of the programs “for workers who become unemployed because of increased imports from, or shifts in work to, foreign countries, to help them become re-employed,” Angela Terez, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokeswoman explained.

The loss of the third shift at the GM plant in January led to layoffs at Comprehensive and other area plants. GM cut the shift at Lordstown to align with market demand for small cars.

Jose Arroyo, United Steelworkers representative, decided to apply for TAA after reading a story in The Vindicator about the Cruze Hatchback, which is produced in Mexico.

“I was cautiously optimistic about our claim,” Arroyo said. “I felt like our claim had merit.”

Read more about the assistance program in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.