The suit alleges that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) systematically violated The Trade Act of 1974, by failing to it to provide effective job retraining to workers who lost their jobs because of trade agreements. Under the law, workers are to receive training so they can obtain a job that pays at least 80 percent of what the workers made previously. However, the DOL instead approved remedial English classes for thousands of Hispanic workers despite the fact that these classes did not help the workers learn new job skills.
The suit alleges that the DOL violates the law by:
- allowing state agencies, including the Texas Workforce Commission, to approve incomplete training;
- allowing state agencies to renounce Congress’ 80 percent wage replacement objective for all Trade Act training; and
- making on-the-job training — which the law requires as much as possible — an option that state agencies may ignore.
The lawsuit was filed by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and Public Citizen on behalf of Asociación de Trabajadores Fronterizos (the Association of Border Workers, or ATF). The lawsuit was filed in federal court in DC and transferred to the Western District of Texas. |
