Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) praised the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to grant a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) certification to the General Motors workers at the Willow Run Transmission Plant.  This means workers at Willow Run can now apply for TAA.  The TAA program provides aid to workers who lose their jobs or whose hours of work and wages are reduced as a result of increased foreign imports.  Under the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, workers may be eligible for training, job search and relocation allowances, income support and other reemployment services. 

“The Willow Run plant is a national treasure,” Dingell said. “Whether it was the B-24 bombers our pilots flew in World War II or Buicks and Cadillacs, if a product is made by the workers in Willow Run you know it is first-rate quality.  The plant that housed that historic and important work has been driven out as a result of unfair competition from our foreign competitors, which his why Trade Adjustment Assistance was granted.  This TAA availability will help continue the transition that began last year for many workers at Willow Run as they try to create new opportunities in a challenging environment.  Local leaders and I continue our efforts to repurpose the Willow Run site to bring new high-tech and green sector businesses and jobs to the historic facility.”

Dingell added: “Unfair trade practices by our trading partners and poorly negotiated trade agreements, like NAFTA, have in large part contributed to the decline of good-paying American manufacturing jobs, such as those formerly available at Willow Run. While I will keep up my fight to make sure that Willow Run is repurposed and becomes home to new businesses and new Michigan jobs, it's also important to help make right our broken trade agreements.  During my tenure in Congress, I have consistently called on successive administrations to enforce our trade laws and negotiate trade agreements that are not premised on the wholesale off-shoring of domestic jobs.  I will continue doing so at the top of my lungs – including opposing the pending free trade agreement with Korea – with the intent that the loss of further American jobs and subsequent need for TAA can be averted.”

According to the certification released by the Department of Labor, all workers of the General Motors Willow Run Transmission Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, who have become totally or partially unemployed from September 14, 2008, through July 7, 2012, are eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance. In addition, all workers of the Willow Run Plant threatened with total or partial unemployment from September 14, 2008, through July 7, 2012 are eligible.

Former Willow Run workers who believe they are eligible for this assistance should contact their local MichiganWorks! Service Center.  Workers can locate their nearest MichiganWorks! Service Center by visiting: http://michiganworks.org/agencies/find/. 

Please see Congressman Dingell’s website for the Displaced Workers Guidebook, a resource that is meant to highlight and explain opportunities for federal, state and local assistance for workers who have been displaced.

For more information on Trade Adjustment Assistance, click here.