Nov 25, 2009 2:46 pm US/Pacific
Feds To Give Help To Laid Off-NUMMI Workers
FREMONT (BCN) ―
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NUMMI plant in Fremont.
CBS
Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson praised the Obama administration Wednesday for moving quickly to provide assistance to about 5,000 employees at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. auto plant in Fremont who are expected to lose their jobs in March.
Less than two weeks after Ed Montgomery, the executive director of the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, visited the Fremont area to meet with NUMMI workers and local officials, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced that workers will get job training, job search help, relocation allowances, income support and other services.
Carson, who was one of the local officials who met with Montgomery, said, "I think Dr. Montgomery moved quickly to show good faith with this action."
Carson said that when he first met with Montgomery in Washington, D.C., in September, Montgomery told him that the federal government "needed to do more on the West Coast" to give auto workers the same kind of help the government has been providing to auto workers in Detroit.
NUMMI is a 25-year-old joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, but GM announced in June that it would withdraw from the partnership, and Toyota announced on Aug. 27 that it wouldn't order any vehicles from the auto plant after next March.
Toyota plans to keep making Toyota Corolla cars and Toyota Tacoma trucks at the Fremont facility until that time.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said in a statement, "Auto workers impacted by foreign competition deserve our support, and trade adjustment assistance is one tool that we can bring to bear when plant closings and layoffs threaten communities."
Solis said, "The program will ensure that eligible workers can access greatly needed support and services during this trying economic time."
Carson said he and other local officials will continue to work with the federal government to "maximize the assistance that's provided to workers."
He said he hopes the federal government will also provide assistance to the 21,000 workers at companies that are suppliers for NUMMI and that also will be affected when the auto plant closes.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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