DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-53,993

NEWELL RUBBERMAID, INC.
WOOSTER, OHIO

Notice of Negative Determination
on Reconsideration

On April 2, 2004, the United Steelworkers of America,
Local 302L, requested administrative reconsideration of the
Department’s negative determination regarding the workers of
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., Wooster, Ohio. On May 3, 2004, the
Department issued an Affirmative Determination Regarding
Application for Reconsideration for the workers and former
workers of the subject firm. The notice was published in the
Federal Register on May 13, 2004 (69 FR 26621). The workers at
the subject firm produce plastic household goods and home
organization products (totes, refuse and clear containers) and
are not separately identifiable by product line.
The Department denied the initial petition because the
"contributed importantly" and shift of production group
eligibility requirements of Section 222(3) of the Trade Act of
1974, as amended, were not met. The initial investigation
revealed that increased imports of plastic household goods and
home organization products during the relevant time period did
not contribute importantly to worker separations and that the
subject company did not shift production abroad.
In the request for reconsideration, the union asserted that
the customer survey conducted in the initial investigation
identified the wrong products to be surveyed. The initial
customer survey covered plastic household goods, including totes,
refuse and clear containers. The union states that the subject
facility “primarily produces totes and clear storage containers .
. . along with refuse containers.”
On reconsideration, the Department contacted the company for
clarification concerning the types of goods produced at the
subject facility and whether the product lines were separately
identifiable. A company official explained that they do not
separate workers by lines (such as totes and refuse and clear
containers) since the machines could run almost any product line
produced by the plant workers and thus the subject workers are
not separately identifiable by product line. Therefore, the
survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor aggregated all
products produced by the Wooster, Ohio plant as “Rubber Maid Home
Products (plastic household goods)” in order to reflect the
products produced by the subject plant.






Conclusion
After reconsideration, I affirm the original notice of
negative determination of eligibility to apply for worker
adjustment assistance for workers and former workers of Newell
Rubbermaid, Inc., Wooster, Ohio.
Signed at Washington, D.C., this 25th day of May 2004.
/s/ Elliott S. Kushner
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ELLIOTT S. KUSHNER
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance