Congresswoman Hirono Announces Federal Assistance for
Laid-off Maui Pineapple Company Employees
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) has announced 66 former workers of the Maui Pineapple Company are now eligible to receive federally funded job training assistance.
The federal government has certified that these former employees had worked directly in the company’s pineapple production division and lost those specific jobs, last July, due to foreign competition. That certification has made these workers eligible for U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits which include the following:
1) Vocational training
2) Extending of unemployment assistance
3) Funding for relocation for a new job, and
4) Wage subsidies for hiring those 50 years of age and older.
The Hawai‘i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will draw from $300,000 federal funding specifically designated for these benefits.
“This program stands up for the American worker. This training will give workers in Hawaii who have lost their job, a chance to get back on their feet again and continue providing for their families,” said Hirono.
Parent company, Maui Land and Pineapple Company, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Hawai‘i State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations are working in conjunction to ensure these former workers on Maui receive this federally funded help.
For training assistance benefits, eligible workers are urged to contact:
Work Source Maui - Wailuku
2064 Wells Street, Suite 108
Wailuku, HI 96793
Telephone: 984-2091
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