Business and Finance

About 4,000 laid off workers from companies including Freescale Semiconductor Inc. are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Program is designed to help workers who have lost their jobs as a result of foreign trade.

The workers in 10 states are covered by the latest TAA certifications and will be contacted by state officials with instructions on how to apply for individual benefits and services, officials said.

Those who apply may receive case management and re-employment services, training in new occupational skills and trade readjustment allowances that provide income support for workers enrolled in training. Some workers may also receive job search and relocation allowances, and the health coverage tax credit.

Austin-based Freescale, which manufactures semiconductor chips, employs about 19,500 workers nationally, including 5,000 in Austin. The company was founded in 2004 as a Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) spinoff. In early 2009, Freescale cut about 700 local jobs as part of companywide reduction of 2,400 positions.

Although Trade Adjustment Assistance is open to eligible workers of all ages, workers 50 and older may elect to receive Re-employment Trade Adjustment Assistance instead. If a worker obtains new employment at wages less than $55,000 and less than those earned in adversely affected employment, the RTAA program will pay 50 percent of the difference between the old wage and the new wage, up to $12,000 during a two-year period, officials said.

Source