WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that employees of Garrity Industries' Ashaway flashlight plant will be eligible for extra help through the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. This federal program helps laid-off workers whose jobs were lost due to global trade. Displaced Garrity Industries employees who are eligible for the program will get federal help with income support and employment re-training in another job or career, among other benefits and services.

Garrity Industries' Ashaway, Rhode Island facility is a packaging operation and distribution center for shipping finished goods such as flashlights and lanterns. Last July, the company, a Duracell brand and subsidiary of the Proctor and Gamble Company, announced that it will permanently shut down and close its manufacturing facility in Ashaway, Rhode Island. As a result, approximately 61 employees will lose their jobs. Lay-offs are expected to begin on February 20, 2009 and be completed on March 27, 2009.

"This federal assistance will provide an extra layer of support for hardworking people who are being laid off due to the impacts of foreign trade. TAA allows people to pay their bills while they retrain for new jobs. This is one small piece of good news in an otherwise very difficult time for these workers and their families," said Reed, who wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor in January requesting federal TAA support for these workers. "TAA is an effective program that helps people retrain for new careers and offers them support as they transition to a new job."

Garrity Industries applied for TAA due to increased foreign competition and the subsequent need to reorganize, resulting in the shut-down of its packaging and distribution capabilities in Rhode Island.

The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, administered by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, provides aid to workers who have become unemployed as a result of increased imports from, or shifts in production to, foreign countries. The goal of the program is to help these workers return to suitable employment as quickly as possible. To facilitate this goal, TAA certified workers may access services that can include job training, income support, relocation allowances, job search allowances, and a health coverage tax credit.

Workers are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance only after they have been let go by their employer. In order to apply, a worker must independently file a claim with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (RI DLT). After the claim has been filed, a representative from RI DLT meets with the individual to explain their options.