Former GM Employees Eligible For Federal Assistance

Tuesday, December 19th 2006, 2:02 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Former General Motors Corp. employees qualify for a U.S. Department of Labor program that helps those who lose their jobs or significant work hours because of increased imports or a shift in production out of the country, state officials said Tuesday.

Those who worked at the south Oklahoma City plant, which employed more than 2,000, have been ruled eligible for the Trade Readjustment Assistance (TRA) program, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said.

Through the program, workers can access services such as income support, relocation and job search allowances and health coverage tax credits, officials said.

Occupational training will be available for those who need retraining for suitable employment. The goal is to reconnect laid-off workers with suitable employment quickly, OESC officials said in a news release.

To be eligible under the Trade Act of 1974, workers had to be laid off or threatened with layoff; employer sales or production had to decrease and increased imports of products like or directly competitive with the firm's products must have contributed to the layoffs or the threat of layoffs, OESC officials said.

Former GM employees also are eligible for Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance, which provides workers 50 years and older, for whom retraining may not be suitable, with the option of accepting re-employment at a lower wage in return for a wage subsidy.

The first day of eligibility was October 31.