DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-55,021

PARAMETRIC TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
SOLUTIONS AND MARKETING GROUP
WC PUBLICATION AND DOCUMENTATION DEPARTMENT
NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

Notice of Negative Determination
Regarding Application for Reconsideration

By application of July 22, 2004, a petitioner requested
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative
determination regarding eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment
Assistance (TAA), applicable to workers and former workers of the
subject firm. The denial notice was signed on July 1, 2004, and
published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2004 (69 FR
46574).
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 petition for the workers of Parametric Technology
Corporation, Solutions and Marketing Group, WC Publication and
Documentation Departments, Needham, Massachusetts engaged in
developing, writing and maintaining technical documentation
integrated into the software code was denied because the
petitioning workers did not produce an article within the meaning
of Section 222 of the Act.
The petitioner contends that the Department erred in its
interpretation of work performed at the subject facility as a
service and further conveys that workers of the subject company
produced manuals and help systems which were components of
compact disks – a physical product sold to customers. He further
states that because these components were essential parts of
complete products, the workers writing manuals should be
considered workers engaged in production.
A company official was contacted for clarification in regard
to the nature of the work performed at the subject facility. The
official stated that petitioning group of workers at the subject
firm develops, writes, and maintains technical documentation,
which indeed includes online help files and manuals. The
official further clarified that the documentation created is
merged with the software code which is further compiled onto the
gold CDs. However, the physical gold CDs are not sold to
customers, but rather represent a master copy of the software,
which in its turn is sent to an independent non-affiliated party
vendor for further duplication and distribution. The official
supported the information previously provided by the subject firm
that codes and software created at the subject facility are not
recorded on any media device by the subject firm for further
duplication and distribution to customers and that there are no
products manufactured within Parametric Technology Corporation,
Needham, Massachusetts.
The sophistication of the work involved is not an issue in
ascertaining whether the petitioning workers are eligible for
trade adjustment assistance, but rather only whether they
produced an article within the meaning of section 222 of the
Trade Act of 1974.
Developing, writing, editing, and maintaining on-line
technical documentation are not considered production of an
article within the meaning of Section 222 of the Trade Act.
Petitioning workers do not produce an “article” within the
meaning of the Trade Act of 1974. Information electronic
databases, technical documentation and codes, which are not
printed or recorded on media devices (such as CD-ROMs) for
further mass production and distribution, are not tangible
commodities, and they are not listed on the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTS), as classified by the United
States International Trade Commission (USITC), Office of Tariff
Affairs and Trade Agreements, which describes articles imported
to the United States.
To be listed in the HTS, an article would be subject to a
duty on the tariff schedule and have a value that makes it
marketable, fungible and interchangeable for commercial purposes.
Although a wide variety of tangible products are described as
articles and characterized as dutiable in the HTS, informational
products that could historically be sent in letter form and that
can currently be electronically transmitted are not listed in the
HTS. Such products are not the type of products that customs
officials inspect and that the TAA program was generally designed
to address.
The investigation on reconsideration supported the findings
of the primary investigation that the petitioning group of
workers does not produce an article.
The petitioner further alleges that because workers lost
their jobs due to a transfer of job functions to India,
petitioning workers should be considered import impacted.
The company official stated that some technical writing
positions were shifted to India. The official further stated
that the results of the work assignments completed in India is
transmitted back to the US group who create the gold CD via
Parametric’s Technology Corporation’s electronic internal
systems.
Informational material that is electronically transmitted
is not considered production within the context of TAA
eligibility requirements, so there are no imports of products in
this instance. Further, as the technical material does not become
a product until it is recorded on media device, there was no
shift in production of an “article” within the meaning of the
Trade Act of 1974.
In your request for reconsideration, you doubt the accuracy
of the information provided by Parametric Technology Corporation
and request copies of all the submissions made by the subject
firm during the investigation process.
The Department has no evidence that would suggest that the
officials of the Parametric Technology Corporation had any reason
to mislead the investigation or that they had any interest in the
outcome of this determination that might have been adverse to the
former employees of the subject firm.
The Department is unable to provide you with the requested
copies of documents as all commercial and financial data
submitted by the subject firm is entitled to confidential
treatment, in accordance with 29 CFR 90.33, and will not be
disclosed except to the extent required by applicable law or
court order.
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 10th day of September, 2004.
/s/ Elliott S. Kushner

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