Labor Law Center Blog » Blog Archive » Virginia Employers up for Federal Assistance.

Virginia Employers up for Federal Assistance.

January 7th, 2007 Posted by Mark

Under the Trade Act of 1974, certain employers can get additional help with their unemployment insurance benefits if their employees have been unemployed because of an increase in imports. That means if there is an increase in the competition from the outside world, and this affects the competitiveness of an employer or their business health and they have to let people go as a result, then the federal government kicks in and helps those employees with their unemployment and will also help them to get another job as quickly as possibly.

That is a win win for both the employer and the employee. Called Federal Trade Assistance, not all employers can get this designation, but if you are an employer who has been hurt by international imports and competition, it is worth looking into. One major manufacturer in Virginia recently just got the Federal Trade Assistance, according to the Governor, Timothy M. Kaine—the Norfolk Ford Assembly Plant.

What the Federal Trade Assistance will do for workers—and the employer—and this Ford plant is provide a wealth of money to help with health care benefits while the people are unemployed, extended jobless benefits, and perhaps most importantly of all, for training to help that person find another job, perhaps even a new career.

The way it works is that even companies that provide parts and services to this Ford plant can also obtain these Trade Act unemployment benefits for their workers, should they get unemployed too as a result of Ford’s economic downturn at its Virginia plant.

The process like this gets into gear when the governor of the state, as well as the employer (Ford in this case), and the United Auto Workers Union, all got together and petitioned the federal government to be part of this federal assistance program.