STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

JOHN G. KOSSORIS, Claimant

TRADE ACT DECISION
Hearing No. 08603019WK


An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Division of Unemployment Insurance of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, and for the reasons stated in the attached Memorandum Opinion, the commission now issues the following:

ORDER


The May 15, 2008 decision of the ALJ in this matter is set aside. The April 18, 2008 department determination in this matter is set aside. This matter is remanded to the department for it to investigate and issue another determination on the question of whether the claimant is eligible for benefits under the Trade Act.

Dated and mailed June 25, 2008
kossojo . tpr : 110 : TRA

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairperson

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner

/s/ Ann L. Crump, Commissioner

 

 

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Facts - John Kossoris worked for Rexnord until he was laid off on May 4, 2007. He applied for and received UI benefits. When his UI benefits were exhausted, in early 2008, Kossoris contacted the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to ask about possible extensions or any other benefits. At that time, a representative of DWD told him that he was potentially eligible for benefits under the Trade Act and took his application for such benefits.

Subsequently, however, an investigator for DWD issued an Initial Determination concerning Kossoris' eligibility for benefits under the Trade Act, finding that he was not eligible because he had not met the "16/8-week deadline" for becoming enrolled in training or obtaining a waiver of the training requirement.

Kossoris failed to meet the 16/8-week deadline because, at the time that he first sought UI benefits after being laid off, no one told him anything about potential eligibility for benefits under the Trade Act or about any deadline that had to be met to preserve any such eligibility.

Kossoris appealed the determination that he was ineligible for benefits. After hearing, an ALJ affirmed the determination. Kossoris then petitioned for review. 
 

Discussion - The commission has set aside the ALJ's decision and the Initial Determination and remanded this matter for further investigation because the record shows that there is an unresolved issue here, having to do with the identity of the employer involved, which may preclude any finding of eligibility entirely apart from the issue as to the claimant's failure to meet the 16/8-week deadline.

Kossoris testified that when he contacted DWD to ask about possible extensions or any other benefits, a representative of DWD told him that the only possibility for additional benefits would be if Kossoris' employer was part of the TRA program. He testified that this DWD worker then "looked this up" and told him that his employer was indeed part of the program.

Based on the reference to it contained in the Determination, it is evident that the DWD worker concluded that Kossoris was potentially eligible for Trade Act benefits by virtue of the U.S. Department of Labor certification in Petition Number 59884. However, this appears to have been a mistake.

Rexnord has a number of separate operating divisions, including several in the Milwaukee area. Rexnord Industrial Chain & Conveyor Division is a large plant at 4800 W. Mitchell Street in Milwaukee. Rexnord has another large plant at 3001 W. Canal Street; this is the old Falk Corporation plant which Rexnord purchased in about 2005. Rexnord designates that operation as the "Gear Group". Rexnord also has several other operations in Cudahy and New Berlin.

The U. S. Department of Labor Trade Act certification which the department looked to here, number 59884, was issued in response to a petition filed by United Steelworkers Local 1527 on behalf of "workers of Rexnord Industries, LLC, Industrial Chain and Conveyor Division, Milwaukee, Wisconsin". The certification extended to and covered only those workers.

As noted above, Rexnord's Industrial Chain & Conveyor Division plant is located at 4800 W. Mitchell in Milwaukee. However, in his appeal from the Determination, the claimant states, "[t]he name of my employer is Rexnord Industries LLC and I last worked at 3001 W. Canal Street, Milwaukee, WI 53208" (emphasis added). As noted above, the 3001 W. Canal Street location is not Rexnord's Industrial Chain and Conveyor Division plant, it is the Rexnord "Gear Group", at the former Falk Corporation plant. The DOL certification in petition number 59884 does not appear to cover workers at Rexnord's 3301 W. Canal St. operation.

When deciding whether a claimant is potentially eligible for benefits under the Trade Act, it is essential to take care in determining whether the claimant was employed with an employing unit (or part thereof) covered under a U. S. Department of Labor certification. See, e.g., Steven P. Santner (LIRC, May 21, 2003), Derek L. Harris (LIRC, June 5, 2008). Sufficient care was not taken here to make that determination. It appears that the claimant may in fact not have been in the group of workers covered by Petition No. 59884 which DWD appears to have assumed he was part of. In any event, the record as it now stands is such that the commission does not believe it can make a finding on that question. It is for this reason that the commission has set aside the decisions and remanded this matter for a new investigation, which should specifically address and decide, among other things, whether the claimant was in fact in the group of workers covered by Trade Act Petition No. 59884.


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