Stupak Hails Additional Trade Adjustment Funds
STUPAK HAILS ADDITIONAL TRADE ADJUSTMENT FUNDS
Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) applauded a decision by the Department of Labor to release over $3.9 million to assist approximately 3,662 trade-affected dislocated workers from a range of industries in Michigan. Stupak had previously written the Secretary of Labor on July 12, asking that additional funding be allocated to assist 210 displaced workers in Gaylord, Michigan.
"I am pleased to see the Department of Labor come through with this funding, which will mean a great deal to folks in Gaylord who are struggling to adjust to the closure of the Georgia Pacific plant," Stupak said. "I wrote Secretary Chao last month on this issue because workers who had gone to their Michigan Works! office had been told that allotted Trade Adjustment Assistance funds had been depleted."
The funding is being authorized under the Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which provides employees negatively impacted by trade with job retraining, job search and relocation allowances, income support and other reemployment services.
"This assistance will help put people in Gaylord back to work and ease at least some of the hardship folks are experiencing," Stupak said. "Gaylord wants to return to work and these programs are designed to help people do so."
In April, the Department of Labor initially classified the 210 workers impacted by the Georgia Pacific plant closure as eligible for TAA benefits. The $3.9 million released by the Department of Labor now goes to the Michigan State Department of Labor, which will allocate the funding to local agencies, such as Michigan Works!
"The next step is making sure that the local agencies apply for and receive this funding so that they provide services to workers," Stupak said. "I will continue working to ensure this money moves through the pipeline and is distributed to the folks in Gaylord who need it."
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