NATIONAL
Federal spending bill includes TAA; Dems press for renewal
“TAA is a critical part of our nation’s competitiveness strategy in the face of a rapidly evolving world economy and its reauthorization enjoys bipartisan support,” the letter reads. “Congressional leadership and action to reauthorize TAA is needed to stop the termination of an effective program that helps American workers and firms compete, innovate, strengthen, and diversify America’s economy. We must do all we can to save jobs by helping firms readjust and workers regain their edge and competitiveness in the global marketplace.”
The U.S. Department of Labor has notified TAA stakeholders that, if the TAA is not renewed, any workers not laid off before Dec. 31 will be ineligible to receive services, regardless of their coverage under an active certification. Among the thousands of workers in Washington state who could lose access to TAA benefits are hundreds of Boeing employees who are being laid off as the company shifts engineering work elsewhere.
Congress created the TAA program in response to the loss of jobs among hard-working Americans as a result of increasing global competition, as well as to promote American competitiveness. TAA can provide fully funded training, extended income support, and other benefits to dislocated workers whose companies move production or outsource to another country, or are forced to lay off workers or close plants due to increased imports and foreign competition.
“The unfortunate truth is that layoffs of this kind are all too common in our state, making these benefits a necessity,” wrote Caitlyn Jekel and Bill Messenger, Workforce Investment Act Liaisons for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, in a column last year. “The TAA program has already helped tens of thousands of unemployed workers across Washington find new jobs and make ends meet until they do.”