[Federal Register: May 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 97)]
[Notices]               
[Page 27691-27692]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18my01-63]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

[TA-W-38,024]

 
Alabama Structural Beams, a Division of Gulf States Steel, 
Gadsden, AL; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for 
Reconsideration

    By application dated January 15, 2001, the attorney for United 
Steelworkers of America, Local 2176, requested administrative 
reconsideration of the Department's negative determination regarding 
eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), applicable 
to workers and former workers of the subject firm. The denial notice 
was signed on December 5, 2000, and was published in the Federal 
Register on December 21, 2000 (65 FR 80456).
    Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted under 
the following circumstances:

    (1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously 
considered that the determination complained of was erroneous;
    (2) If it appears that the determination complained of was based 
on a mistake in the determination of facts not previously 
considered; or
    (3) If in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified reconsideration of 
the decision.

    The petition for the workers of Alabama Structural Beams, a 
Division of Gulf States Steel, Gadsden, Alabama, was denied because the 
``contributed importantly'' group eligibility requirement of Section 
222(3) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, was not met. The 
``contributed importantly'' test is generally demonstrated through a 
survey of customers of the workers' firm. None of the customers 
reported purchasing imported I-beams.

[[Page 27692]]

    The petitioner states that the workers at the Structural Beams 
plant should be eligible to apply for the program benefits because the 
Structural Beams plant and the parent company, Gulf States Steel, were 
on in the same. They shared the same Board of Directors, payroll, on-
site medical facilities, workers compensation, and health insurance. 
The petitioner adds that Alabama Structural Beams was part of Gulf 
States Steel in every sense except that the pay scale and employee 
union contract was different. When Gulf States Steel closed, so too did 
the subject firm plant. The petitioner states that the Structural Beam 
plan relied on the parent company for the raw material to produce the 
I-beams. The I-beams were sold mainly to manufacturers of mobile homes.
    The source of the raw material to produce the I-beams is irrelevant 
in this case. Workers of the Alabama Structural Beams plant could be 
certified only if they supplied the I-beams to Gulf States Steel (whose 
workers were certified eligible to apply for TAA).

Conclusion

    After review of the application and investigative findings, I 
conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of the law 
or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of the Department 
of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the application is denied.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 30th day of April 2001.

Linda A. Poole,
Certifying Officer, Division of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 01-12564 Filed 5-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M