NEW YORK (AP) -- Laid-off
programmers have filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department
of Labor of illegally denying them job-training benefits
available to workers in industries where jobs have moved
overseas.
The suit, which seeks class-action status,
was filed Jan. 2 in the U.S. Court of International Trade in
New York, said Michael G. Smith, attorney for the plaintiffs.
The suit wants a judge to order the Labor Department to make
laid-off software workers eligible for weekly cash payments
and other benefits under the Trade Adjustment Assistance
program.
In recent years, U.S. companies have laid off
thousands of software workers and other high-technology
employees. At the same time, companies are adding technology
staff in India and other developing countries where labor is
inexpensive, in what's known as "offshore
outsourcing."
Some displaced American workers have
turned to the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for help.
Begun in the 1960's, TAA was designed to soften the blow to
U.S. workers of increased imports or transfers of jobs
overseas. Traditionally, workers in manufacturing have been
eligible for the benefits, which include vouchers for
job-training classes and cash payments after regular
unemployment compensation runs out.
But over the past
two years, the Labor Department has ruled many software
workers ineligible for TAA benefits. The Labor Department has
said software and information-technology services don't
qualify as products, or "articles," under TAA guidelines. Only
workers who made more tangible products, such as clothing and
furniture, can get TAA benefits, the department has
ruled.
The lawsuit claims that about 10,000 software
workers in the United States should be eligible for TAA
benefits, but would be ruled ineligible under current Labor
Department practices. Those that have been denied benefits
include former workers at International Business Machines
Corp., Electronic Data Systems Corp., Nortel Networks Corp.
and Motorola Inc., according to the lawsuit.
Labor
Department spokeswoman Lorette Post said the department
doesn't comment on pending litigation. Justice Department
spokesman Charles Miller said the department wouldn't comment
because it hasn't yet filed its response to the trade
court.
(Source: AlwaysOn Network)
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