Senator Sherrod Brown: $1.6 Million in National Emergency Grant Funds for Chrysler Twinsburg Stamping Plant Workers

Senator Announces $20 Million in New Funds to Support Ohio Auto Communities through National Emergency Grant and Dislocated Workers through Trade Adjustment Assistance

June 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced $1,657,746 has been added to Ohio’s national emergency grant (NEG) for auto communities. These new funds, which come from the Department of Labor (DOL), will assist approximately 700 workers affected by layoffs at the Chrysler Twinsburg Stamping Plant. Brown also announced today the release of $19.1 million for trade adjustment assistance for Ohio workers who lost jobs due to trade-related issues.

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“These funds are critical for Twinsburg auto workers and their families,” Brown said. “They represent a national commitment to rebuilding Ohio auto communities and preparing Ohioans for clean energy jobs.”

Brown recently petitioned U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis for additional funds to be added to Ohio’s NEG, which supports auto workers and communities. The additional $1,657,746 for Ohio’s NEG marks a substantial increase in financial support for Ohio auto workers, with the grant now totaling $10 million. In March, Brown helped secure $8,432,254 to assist employees dislocated from the GM Truck Assembly Plant in Moraine, the GM Lordstown Plant in Warren, the Chrysler North Assembly Plant in Toledo, and 12 other supplier companies located throughout the state.

The trade adjustment assistance funding will provide career training, employment, and case management services to workers who lose their jobs due to trade-related reasons. Of the $19.1 million in trade adjustment assistance funding, $16.3 million will be used for job training, $2.4 million for administrative support, and $350,000 for case management services.

Brown has been a leading advocate in Congress for supporting workers displaced due to plant closings and trade-related reasons. He is the author of legislation that would streamline and accelerate federal assistance to communities undergoing extreme economic distress. More information about Brown’s legislation that would send a specialist or project manager from the federal government to quickly educate and inform local leaders in economically distressed communities about existing federal assistance available to them is available here.

Source: Senator Sherrod Brown