Click here to download this Action Call as a PDF.
For decades now, we have seen the devastating results unfair trade has on workers and their communities. We’ve pushed for a level playing field and accountability to countries that dump their goods and manipulate our trade laws, but we are far from achieving worker centric trade policy. This means we do all we can to help workers when their facilities close and they are left out in the cold. One of those tools is Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA).
TAA is a benefit that offers up to two years of robust job training benefits for workers who lose their jobs because of dumped and subsidized imports, changes in tariffs, and trade agreements. According to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau, TAA recipients earn an average of $50,000 more in income over a 10-year period compared to workers who did not participate in the program.
Currently, workers are unable to access these job training benefits because Congress has not reauthorized the program since its expiration on June 30, 2022. As a result, the Department of Labor cannot issue determinations on the layoff petitions, leaving impacted workers with no assistance. Right now, there are over 134,000 workers, including approximately over 5,700 USW members, who have submitted TAA petitions. These petitions continue to accumulate every day, compounding the frustration and uncertainty experienced by a growing number of impacted workers. This is unacceptable.
At our conference in May, over 700 Steelworkers lobbied Congress on the reauthorization of TAA. Last week, we returned and Steelworkers from across the country held over fifty meetings with key legislators in Washington, D.C. to share the stories of workers who have both benefited in the past from TAA and of those who are waiting on their petitions to be processed now. Now those Representatives and Senators need to hear from you.
Tell Congress to Stop Leaving Workers Behind and Reauthorize TAA Now!
Click HERE or scan the QR code to send a prewritten email to your Members of Congress to urge them to quickly reauthorize TAA.
You can also call them and be directly connected by using our toll-free numbers. Tell them who you are, where you are from, and to reauthorize TAA now.
Senate Toll-Free Number: 1-877-607-0785 (Remember to make two calls to be connected with both your Senators.)
House Toll Free Number: 1-866-202-5409
