DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-56,753

SPARTECH POLYCOM
A DIVISION OF THE SPARTECH CORPORATION
CONNEAUT, OHIO

Negative Determinations Regarding Eligibility
To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance
And Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance

In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974, as
amended (19 USC 2273), the Department of Labor herein presents the
results of an investigation regarding certification of eligibility
to apply for worker adjustment assistance. The group eligibility
requirements for directly-impacted (primary) workers under Section
222(a) the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, can be satisfied in
either of two ways:
I. Section (a)(2)(A) all of the following must be satisfied:
A. a significant number or proportion of the workers in such
workers' facility, or an appropriate subdivision of the
facility, have become totally or partially separated, or
are threatened to become totally or partially separated;
B. the sales or production, or both, of such facility or
subdivision have decreased absolutely; and
C. increased imports of articles like or directly competitive
with articles produced by such facility or subdivision
have contributed importantly to such workers' separation
or threat of separation and to the decline in sales or
production of such facility or subdivision; or

II. Section (a)(2)(B) both of the following must be satisfied:

A. a significant number or proportion of the workers in such
workers' facility, or an appropriate subdivision of the
facility, have become totally or partially separated, or
are threatened to become totally or partially separated;
B. there has been a shift in production by such workers'
facility or subdivision to a foreign country of articles
like or directly competitive with articles which are
produced by such facility or subdivision; and
C. One of the following must be satisfied:
1. the country to which the workers' facility has shifted
production of the articles is a party to a free trade
agreement with the United States;
2. the country to which the workers' facility has shifted
production of the articles is a beneficiary country
under the Andean Trade Preference Act, African Growth
and Opportunity Act, or the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act; or
3. there has been or is likely to be an increase in
imports of articles that are like or directly
competitive with articles which are or were produced
by such facility or subdivision.

The investigation was initiated on March 14, 2005 in response
to a petition filed by the United Steelworkers of America, Local
7334-06, on behalf of workers of Spartech Polycom, a division of
the Spartech Corporation, Conneaut, Ohio. The workers are employed
in the Color and Specialty Compounds segment of the firm, and
produce compounds used in the coloration of thermoplastic
materials, particularly compounds with a high carbon content used
for black coloration.
The investigation revealed that criteria (a)(2)(A)(I.C) and
(a)(2)(B)(II.B) have not been met.
The subject firm did not shift production of coloration
compounds from the Conneaut, Ohio facility to a foreign country in
2003, 2004, or January through February of 2005, nor did it import
these compounds during the above period.
Overall corporate-wide sales, and sales of the Color and
Specialty Compounds business segment, did not decline in the
relevant period. The major cause of separations at the facility was
the transfer of production to other domestic facilities, not
imports.
In addition, in accordance with Section 246 the Trade Act of
1974 (26 USC 2813), as amended, the Department of Labor herein
presents the results of its investigation regarding certification
of eligibility to apply for alternative trade adjustment assistance
(ATAA) for older workers.
In order for the Department to issue a certification of
eligibility to apply for ATAA, the worker group must be certified
eligible to apply for trade adjustment assistance (TAA). Since the
workers are denied eligibility to apply for TAA, the workers cannot
be certified eligible for ATAA.
Conclusion
After careful review, I determine that all workers of Spartech
Polycom, a division of the Spartech Corporation, Conneaut, Ohio are
denied eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under Section
223 of the Trade Act of 1974, and are also denied eligibility to
apply for alternative trade adjustment assistance under Section 246
of the Trade Act of 1974.
Signed in Washington, D.C. this 20th day of April 2005.

/s/ Richard Church
______________________________
RICHARD CHURCH
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance