Delegation Applauds Decision to Extend Trade Adjustment Assistance Elibility to AGRIUM

DELEGATION APPLAUDS DECISION TO EXTEND TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE ELIGIBILITY TO AGRIUM

Alaska's Congressional Delegation today received word that the Department of Labor will extend Trade Adjustment Assistance eligibility to the employees of Agrium, Inc.

In case efforts to save the Agrium plant on the Kenai Peninsula are unsuccessful and the plant is forced to close on Nov. 1 as scheduled, the Alaska Delegation last week sent a letter to the Department of Labor requesting that Agrium's application to be included for TAA be approved. News came this afternoon that the Department has determined that its requirements for TAA eligibility have been met.

"We don't want to see a closure at Agrium," Senator Murkowski said. "However, should efforts to keep the plant open be unsuccessful, TAA should help alleviate some of the burden that the closure will place on the Kenai-Peninsula."

Through Trade Adjustment Assistance, the federal government aids communities where economies have been endangered through the impact of foreign trade. The Department of Labor found in its analysis of the Agrium situation that, as the Delegation had stated in its letter, the potential closure of the plant is related to increased American imports of nitrogen fertilizers and a shift of fertilizer plants to overseas. Further, the Department found that a significant number of workers at the plant are at least 50 years old and possess skills that are not easily transferable to other industries.

"Trade Adjustment assistance is needed to ensure that the people of the Kenai Peninsula are helped in every way possible," Senator Ted Stevens noted.

"I'm pleased that the Department of Labor made a decision in this matter so quickly. It is right that government act quickly to aid anyone who might be affected by a possible closure," Congressman Don Young said.

TAA program is a federal program established under the Trade Act of 1974. TAA provides aid to workers who lose their jobs or whose hours of work and wages are reduced as a result of increased imports.

TAA offers a variety of benefits and reemployment services to assist unemployed workers prepare for and obtain suitable employment. Workers may be eligible for training, job search and relocation allowances, income support and other reemployment services.

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=236498