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Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Employment and Training Services

TAA Petition Process

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Trade Adjustment Assistance

To be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance, you must have been laid off or put on a reduced work schedule (hours of work reduced to 80% or less of your average weekly hours, and wages reduced to 80% or less of your average weekly wage) on or after the Impact Date and before the ending date of certification.

To File a Petition for Trade Impact Eligibility:

Current petition forms and instructions are available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/tradeact/petitioners .

In order for the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a Certification Regarding Eligibility to Apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance, all of the following must be true:

  1. Workers have been totally or partially laid off, or there is a threat of a layoff.
  2. Sales or production have declined.
  3. These impacts are due to the effects of trade, including but not limited to shift in production, increased imports, or loss of business with a TAA certified firm.

Once these requirements have been satisfactorily met and reviewed, the U.S. Department of Labor issues a Certification Regarding Eligibility and workers, employers, unions, and state workforce agencies may apply for services under the TAA program.

Petitions for TAA should be filed at any time after worker separations or a threat of separations begins, but not later than one year after the earliest date on which workers lost their jobs with the employer.

A petition for TAA may be filed by a group of two or more workers, or their union or a company official. Petitions may also be filed by One-Stop operators or partners, State Workforce Agencies, or State dislocated worker units. Petition forms may be:

Trade Adjustment Assistance Program Coordinator
State of Alaska
Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Division of Employment and Training Services
PO Box 115509
Juneau, AK 99811
(907) 465-6275 Phone
(907) 465-4537 Fax
dol.taa@alaska.gov

Or obtained from the US Department of Labor:

U.S. Department of Labor,
Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance
200 Constitution Ave NW
Room N-5428
Washington, DC 20210
Phone: 202-693-3560 or 1-888-DOL-OTAA (1-888-365-6822)
Fax: 202-693-3584, 3585
Email: taa.petition@dol.gov

Note : Petitions may be denied when they are filed too soon. The best time to file a petition is approximately 60 days before the anticipated layoff.

Petitioners should complete and sign the petition and send it directly to the Alaska Trade Adjustment Assistance Program Coordinator at the TAA Program office listed above. The TAA office will ensure completion and submit it to the USDOL. If a petition is filed by a union, company official, One-Stop operator or partner, State Workforce Agency, or State dislocated worker unit, only one petitioner signature is required. Otherwise, the petition must be signed by at least two workers.

The U.S. Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance has the responsibility of investigating the claims of a petition and determining whether a group meets the eligibility criteria for assistance. Once this is verified, the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance will issue an official notice of decision, typically no later than 40 days after receiving the petition.

Administrative Reconsideration

If a determination is made by the U.S. Department of Labor that states that workers who petitioned do not meet the eligibility requirements under this program, workers may obtain assistance from other job training programs such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Dislocated Worker or Adult programs by contacting their local Alaska Job Center. They may also request an administrative reconsideration by the U.S. Department of Labor's findings within 30 days after publication of the final determination in the Federal Register.

A request for administrative reconsideration must include:

  • Name of company
  • TAA investigation number
  • Description of the group of workers on whose behalf the petition was filed
  • Specific reasons that the workers consider the decision to be in error, either according to the facts, the interpretation of the facts, or the law itself

Determinations on TAA petitions are published in the Federal Register , the official daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of Federal organizations. Aggrieved parties who are denied certification may request administrative reconsideration from OTAA by filing an Application for Reconsideration via form ETA-9185 PDF. Reconsideration requests must be filed with OTAA within 30 days of Federal Register publication and may be emailed, mailed, or faxed to:

United States Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance
Attn: Reconsiderations
Room N-5428
200 Constitution Avenue N.W.
Washington DC 20210

Judicial Review

A worker, group of workers, certified or recognized union, or authorized representative of such worker or group may commence a civil action for review of the determination by filing a complaint with the United States Court of International Trade (USCIT) within 60 days after the date of publication of the notice of a final determination in the Federal Register , as provided under sec. 284 of the Act (19 U.S.C. 2395).

Requests for judicial review must be filed in accordance with the rules of the USCIT and must be filed with the Case Management Supervisor, U.S Court of International Trade, One Federal Plaza, New York, New York 10007, (212) 264-1611.

Nationwide information can be found at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/tradeact/petitioners/petition-process .

For convenience, a list of TAA-certified Alaska companies is available at https://jobs.alaska.gov/taa/forms/Past_Petitions.pdf . This list is not necessarily the most recent. Please refer to the national government's website for updates and changes.