DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-53,948

SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY, LLC
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

Notice of Negative Determination
Regarding Application for Reconsideration

By application of February 18, 2004, a petitioner requested
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative
determination regarding eligibility for workers and former
workers of the subject firm to apply for Trade Adjustment
Assistance (TAA). The denial notice applicable to workers of
Seagate Technology, LLC, Research and Development Division,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was signed on February 3, 2004, and
published in the Federal Register on March 12, 2004 (69 FR
11888).
Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted
under the following circumstances:
(1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously
considered that the determination complained of
was erroneous;
(2) if it appears that the determination complained of
was based on a mistake in the determination of facts
not previously considered; or
(3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified
reconsideration of the decision.
The TAA petition was filed on behalf of workers at Seagate
Technology, LLC, Research and Development Division, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma engaged in activities related to design and
planning work for products further developed or produced
elsewhere. The petition was denied because the petitioning
workers did not produce an article within the meaning of Section
222 of the Act.
The petitioner alleges that the workers at the subject
facility performed replication of the equipment that is used to
build the head disk assemblies (HDA) stations at a Singapore
assembly plant and that this replication function was terminated
and transferred to Singapore. The petitioner further states that
“the last generation HDA assembly equipment ended prototype build
by my group in Oklahoma City in October 2002, and Norelco was
chartered with replication at that time.”
A company official was contacted regarding these
allegations. It was revealed that workers at Seagate Technology,
LLC, Research and Development Division, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
were engaged in the procuring, machining and the assembly of the
Mobile Stack Automation (MSA) robotics line and were responsible
for designing and assembling of OKC prototypes which were further
used by Seagate’s production facility Norelco in Singapore to
manufacture disc drives. In March 2001 and October 2002 the
subject firm transferred replication responsibility for the FOF
and Seal Lines from Oklahoma City to Norelco in Singapore.
However, the petitioning workers were not affected by this
transfer as they continued working at the subject facility on OKC
prototype (MSA line) until December of 2003. In fact, according
to the data provided by the company official, employment at
Seagate Technology, LLC, Research and Development Division,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma increased from 2002 to 2003. The
official further reported that the Oklahoma City group was
terminated in December 2003. At that time, the work done by this
group (the MSA Line) was transferred to Longmont, Colorado and
was not sent to Singapore.
It was established upon the reconsideration that prototype
functions performed at the subject facility during the relevant
time period were shifted exclusively to a domestic site. It was
also revealed that, although prototype function does occur at an
affiliate in Singapore, there was no evidence of a shift from the
subject facility to the Singapore affiliate within the relevant
time period, or any U.S. imports resulting from this or any other
foreign production.
Conclusion
After review of the application and investigative findings,
I conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of
the law or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of
the Department of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the
application is denied.

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 15th day of April 2004.
/s/ Elliott S. Kushner

___________________________
ELLIOTT S. KUSHNER
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance