Capital City Press, Inc., Publication Services Division, Barre, VT; Notice of Revised Determination on Remand, 29981-29982 [E6-7935]

Agencies

• Employment and Training Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 24, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29981-29982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7935]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-57,867]


Capital City Press, Inc., Publication Services Division, Barre, 
VT; Notice of Revised Determination on Remand

    On April 11, 2006, the United States Court of International Trade 
(USCIT) granted a consent motion for voluntary remand in Former 
Employees of Capital City Press, Inc. v. U.S. Secretary of Labor, Court 
No. 06-00081.
    On August 31, 2005, a company official filed a petition for Trade 
Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance 
(ATAA) with the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) on behalf of 
workers at Capital City Press, Inc., Publication Services Division, 
Barre, Vermont (subject firm). The company official stated that the 
subject firm was shifting production of scientific journals and books 
to the Philippines and India and importing those products from those 
countries.
    The initial investigation revealed that the workers created 
documents electronically and that the subject firm imported the 
publications in an electronic format. The Department determined that 
the workers did not produce an article within the meaning of Section 
222 of the Trade Act. The determination was issued on October 21, 2005. 
On November 9, 2005, the Department's Notice of negative determination 
was published in the Federal Register (70 FR 68099).
    By letters dating November 22, 2005 and December 5, 2005, the 
subject firm and Local One-L, Graphic Communications Conference, 
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, (Union), respectively, 
requested administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative 
determination regarding eligibility for the subject workers to apply 
for TAA and ATAA.
    The Department's Notice of Dismissal of Application for 
Reconsideration was issued on January 10, 2006, and published in the 
Federal Register on January 17, 2006 (71 FR 2566). The Department 
determined that the electronic nature of the publications created by 
the workers and brought into the United States by the subject firm 
barred the subject workers for consideration as production workers.
    Since the publication of the Notice of Dismissal of Application for 
Reconsideration applicable to workers and former workers of the subject 
firm, the Department has revised its policy to acknowledge that there 
are tangible and intangible articles and to clarify that the production 
of intangible articles can be distinguished from the provision of 
services. Intangible goods that would have been considered articles, 
for the purposes of the Trade Act, if embodied in a physical medium are 
now considered to be articles regardless of their method of transfer.
    The Department stresses that it will continue to implement the 
longstanding precedent that firms must produce an article to be 
certified under the Trade Act. This determination is not altered by the 
fact the provision of a service may result in the incidental creation 
of an article. Because the revised policy may have implications beyond 
this case of which the Department is not fully cognizant, it will be 
further developed in rulemaking.
    Therefore, due to the Department's policy change, the Department 
requested the voluntary remand to conduct an investigation to determine 
whether the subject workers are eligible to apply for TAA and ATAA.
    Reviewing previously-submitted information through the lens of the 
revised policy, the Department has determined that, for purposes of the 
Trade Act, the subject workers are engaged in activity related to the 
production of an article (scientific journals and books). The 
Department has also determined that during the relevant period, a 
significant portion of workers was separated from the subject facility, 
production shifted abroad, and the subject firm increased its imports 
of publications following the shift abroad.
    In accordance with section 246 the Trade Act of 1974 (26 U.S.C. 
2813), as amended, the Department herein presents the results of its 
investigation regarding certification of eligibility to apply for ATAA 
for older workers. In order for the Department to issue a certification 
of eligibility to apply for ATAA, the group eligibility requirements of 
Section 246 of the Trade Act must be met. The Department has determined 
in this case that the requirements of section 246 have been met.

[[Page 29982]]

    A significant number of workers at the firm are age 50 or over and 
possess skills that are not easily transferable. Competitive conditions 
within the industry are adverse.

Conclusion

    After careful review of the facts generated through the second 
remand investigation, I determine that a shift in production abroad of 
publications like or directly competitive to that produced at the 
subject facilities followed by increased imports contributed to the 
total or partial separation of a significant number or proportion of 
workers at the subject facilities. In accordance with the provisions of 
the Act, I make the following certification:

    All workers of Capital City Press, Inc., Publication Services 
Division, Barre, Vermont, who became totally or partially separated 
from employment on or after August 31, 2004, through two years from 
the issuance of this revised determination, are eligible to apply 
for Trade Adjustment Assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act 
of 1974, and are eligible to apply for alternative trade adjustment 
assistance under Section 246 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of May 2006.
Elliott S. Kushner,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
 [FR Doc. E6-7935 Filed 5-23-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P