Chairman Miller Floor Statement on H.R. 3920, “The Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007”

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC -- Below are the prepared remarks of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, for today’s debate on H.R. 3920, “The Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007.”

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Mr. Speaker:

The typical income of American households actually declined between 2000 and 2006, in inflation-adjusted terms. Last year, the number of Americans without health insurance actually increased by over two million.

For years now, Americans have had to deal with stagnating incomes and rising costs for basics like healthcare, food, energy, and housing.

For many reasons, Americans are deeply concerned about the future of the economy and their place in it. One cause of their concern is the negative consequences they see from international trade.

Indeed, Americans find themselves increasingly caught in the crosshairs of the global economy.  They have watched neighbors, friends, and loved ones lose their jobs when plants close and move overseas.

Americans have become ever more skeptical about trade agreements, and with good reason. They watch jobs move to China, and in return all they get are lead-poisoned toys.

Given these very real concerns, it is critical that we include in trade agreements strong and enforceable labor and environmental protections. And we must provide substantial assistance to workers who are negatively affected by trade.

The legislation we are considering today addresses this second point with an effort to help the workers confront the negative consequences of international trade. 

The legislation helps ensure that displaced workers can make ends meet while they find a new job or, in the case of older workers, until they reach retirement age.

While income support and training benefits through Trade Adjustment Assistance are critical to the viability of displaced workers, it is also important to ensure that workers have as much advance notice as possible before a plant closing or layoff. 

The legislation before us today amends the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, also known as the WARN Act, to ensure that workers are given enough notice prior to a plant closing or mass layoff to prepare for imminent job loss. 

In addition, the legislation provides older and tenured TAA-eligible workers with the option of extending their group health insurance coverage for 30 months.  

The WARN Act became law in 1988.  It requires that employers with 100 or more full-time employees give 60 days’ notice prior to a mass layoff or plant closing. 

Over the last 18 years, the WARN Act has provided help to some workers facing a plant closing or a mass layoff.  But the law has a number of weaknesses.

The Government Accountability Office has reported that the WARN Act’s provisions are confusing and often misinterpreted. This confusion has enabled employers to avoid providing advanced notices to employees soon to be affected by a plant closing or mass layoff.

Furthermore, inadequate sanctions for employers that violate the law, coupled with a lack of Labor Department authority, have limited the law’s effectiveness.  

Today’s legislation addresses the central problems with the WARN Act by simplifying when and to whom a notice is required.

The bill requires a layoff or plant closing notification if 50 or more employees, including part-time employees, at a single jobsite are laid off in a 30-day period. It eliminates a loophole that has allowed employers to avoid giving notices by shifting employees around jobsites. 

The bill increases notice to employees of a plant closing or mass layoff from 60 to 90 days. It increases penalties from up to 60 days’ worth of back pay to up to 90 days’ worth of double back pay for each calendar day notice was required but not given.

It strengthens the role of the Department of Labor and gives DOL the authority to receive, investigate and attempt to resolve complaints when employers fail to comply with the law.

The bill requires that the Department of Labor provide model educational material to employers on employer responsibilities and employee rights under WARN, as well as the benefits and services potentially available to the affected workers.

The bill requires that employers provide workers with comprehensive information about benefits and services available to help them manage during their period of unemployment, including job training and unemployment insurance.

It also makes clear that employers cannot ask employees to waive their statutory notice rights under the WARN Act.

Finally, the legislation would provide an important additional healthcare option to workers who lose their jobs because of trade.

This bill also extends the time period that all TAA-eligible workers can continue their group health insurance coverage, known as COBRA coverage, for up to 30 months. TAA-eligible employees who are 55 or older or employees who have worked for an employer for 10 or more years can also extend their COBRA coverage until they are Medicare eligible or become covered by another employer health plan.

This coverage is available to workers today, but only for a period of up to 18 months.

That time limit fails to recognize the difficult realities facing many workers, and particularly older workers, when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own.

The American people are right to be concerned about the impacts of international trade agreements, particularly in light of the lack of safeguards available to workers affected by trade.

Early warning of impending job loss won’t prevent workers from losing their jobs, but it can help them prepare to find a new job or seek additional skills for new employment.  

H.R. 3796 will provide workers, their families, and their communities with much-needed support to prepare for and manage a job loss due to trade.

The Trade and Globalization Assistance Act of 2007 is a critical step towards making trade fairer and towards strengthening America’s middle class. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.   Thank you.

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