DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-57,065

GALILEO INTERNATIONAL
DIVISION OF CENDANT CORPORATION
CENTENNIAL, COLORADO

Notice of Negative Determination
on Reconsideration

On August 9, 2005, 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 August 18, 2005 (70 FR
48604-48605).
The petition for the workers of Galileo International,
Division of Cendant Corporation, Centennial, Colorado engaged in
software development 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 software developed by the
subject firm was sold to travel agents, travel suppliers and
corporation travel offices. The petitioner included the
brochures with the description of the software as well as the
company website which advertises the “articles”, in order to
support the allegation that workers of the subject firm produce
an article.
A company official was contacted for clarification in regard
to the nature of the work performed at the subject facility. The
official stated the petitioning group of workers at the subject
firm was responsible for software development, in particular
design, programming, testing and maintenance/support. The
official further clarified that customers can either access and
download software via the Internet or purchase CD-ROMs with the
desktop software. The official stated that the desktop client
software developed at the subject firm is mass produced in a CD
form for further distribution to customers.
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.
Technical writing design, programming and testing of the
software is 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, 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. However, it was revealed
that electronic desktop software created by the subject company
is recorded on media devices (CD-ROMs) for further mass-
production and distribution. Thus, it was determined that the
petitioning group of service workers support production of CD-
ROMs containing software.
The Department conducted an additional investigation to
determine whether workers can be considered eligible for TAA as
directly-impacted workers in support of production of CD-ROMs
containing desktop software.
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' firm, or an appropriate subdivision of the firm,
have become totally or partially separated, or are
threatened to become totally or partially separated;

B. the sales or production, or both, of such firm or
subdivision have decreased absolutely; and

C. increased imports of articles like or directly competitive
with articles produced by such firm or subdivision have
contributed importantly to such workers’ separation or
threat of separation and to the decline in sales or
production of such firm 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' firm, or an appropriate subdivision of the
firm, 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’ firm
or subdivision to a foreign country of articles like or
directly competitive with articles which are produced by
such firm or subdivision; and

C. One of the following must be satisfied:
1. the country to which the workers’ firm 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’ firm 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 firm or subdivision.

The investigation of Galileo International, Travel
Distribution Services, Centennial, Colorado, revealed that criteria
(I.B) and (II.B) were not met. According to the information
provided by the company official, sales and production of CD-ROMs
containing desktop software did not decline during the relevant
time period. Moreover, the subject firm did not shift production
abroad, nor did it increase company imports of CD-ROMs containing
desktop software, during the relevant period.
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 coding and programming job
functions were outsourced to a third party join venture in India.
The official also stated that all design documents and other
documentation written in India is returned to the United States
through electronic mail or interntet.
Technical writing of informational documentation 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 PDF files
and technical documentation do not become products until they are
recorded on media device, there was no shift in production of an
“article” abroad within the meaning of the Trade Act of 1974.
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 Galileo
International, Travel Distribution Services, Centennial,
Colorado.
Signed at Washington, D.C. this 20th day of September, 2005.


/s/ Elliott S. Kushner

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