WashTech Urges Trade Adjustment Aid for Tech Workers

WashTech-CWA representatives testified before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee last week to urge lawmakers to extend and expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act to include tech workers.

TAA benefits help train workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition. Legislation proposed a year ago would expand the benefits to such workers as computer programmers, testers, technical writers, system administrators, call center workers, and others. But now Congress is debating whether to continue the TAA program at all.

James Fusco, a New Jersey WashTech member who testified along with President Marcus Courtney, lost his 13-year job as a mainframe applications developer with AT&T in 1999 when it was outsourced to Canada. He became part of a class-action lawsuit that forced the U.S. Department of Labor to certify the workers as eligible for benefits. However, a government study shows that 40 percent of workers applying for benefits are denied because the DOL doesn't regard their work product (such as software) as covered under the Trade Act, Courtney said.

Pending bills to improve TAA are S.122, sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and H.R. 4156, sponsored by Rep. Adam Smith (D-Neb.)