We're Headed to Washington D.C.

A delegation of I.U.E union officials, Visteon Administration, EDG and Mayor Ellison are flying to Washington D.C Monday afternoon. We will have meetings Tuesday with Congressmen Dick Lugar, Mike Pence, Evan Bayh and Barron Hill. The purpose of the meeting is to request that all displaced workers from Visteon receive TAA (Trade Adjustment Allowance), TRA (trade readjustment allowance) and other benifits due to the recent announcment of Visteons decision to close the Connersville facility. While the announcment of Visteons closing is not directly related to NAFTA, it is a direct result of jobs leaving do to the lose of jobs to foreign pressures.

Under the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, workers whose employment is adversely affected by increased imports may apply for TAA. TAA includes a variety of benefits and reemployment services to help unemployed workers prepare for and obtain suitable employment. Workers may be eligible for training, a job search allowance, a relocation allowance, and other reemployment services. Additionally, trade readjustment allowances (TRA) may be payable to eligible workers following their exhaustion of unemployment benefits.

One positive note of encouragement is that all 4 Congressmen and their staff noted that this is the first time they can recall that representitives of all facets of a community including labor, government, company administration and Economic development officials, will be coming to meet with them in a unified coalition. This shows that by all of us working together for a common goal can we can achieve a greater impact and a more successful request for help here in our area.

We hope to come back to Connersville with good news not only for the 900 jobs that will be lost, but also for the scores of other displaced Visteon workers that lost their jobs other the past several years.