CHEROKEE – Workers and former workers of FreightCar Alabama, LLC, a subsidiary of FreightCar America, Inc., Cherokee, Alabama, who were engaged in activities related to the production of freight cars and are not separately identifiable by product, may be eligible for benefits under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2015 (TAARA 2015). A petition filed on behalf of workers of FreightCar Alabama, LLC., Cherokee, Alabama, was certified by the U.S. Department of Labor on November 20, 2020, according to Secretary Fitzgerald Washington, Alabama Department of Labor.
The U.S. Department of Labor found that the workers may have become unemployed because FreightCar Alabama, LLC is a supplier to a firm that produces and supplies directly to another firm component parts for articles, or services used in the production of articles or in the supply of services that were the basis for such certification. The petition covers periods of unemployment occurring on or after October 15, 2019 through November 20, 2022. Under the TAARA 2015 Act, displaced workers may be eligible for benefits such as training, job search and relocation assistance, and Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC). For additional information on the HCTC, they can visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov/HCTC.
If workers have exhausted their cash benefits under other state and federal unemployment compensation
Fitzgerald Washington
programs, they could be eligible for additional weekly benefits equivalent to the amount they were receiving under other programs. In order to receive Trade Readjustment Allowance (TRA) benefits, workers must enroll in training within 26 weeks of the certification date or their last qualifying separation or a waiver of the training requirement must be granted by the state Employment Service Division of the Alabama Department of Labor.
FreightCar Alabama, LLC was also certified for Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance (RTAA). Employees who are 50 years of age and older, who obtain full time employment after their separation from the affected employer, may be eligible for training and allowances under the RTAA program.
Washington stated that potentially eligible individuals will be notified individually as soon as they are identified.
Media Release/Alabama Department of Labor
