STATEMENT OF SENATORS OLYMPIA SNOWE AND SUSAN COLLINS ON THE CLOSING OF OSRAM SYLVANIA

WASHINGTON, D.C.- In response to the recent announcement that Osram Sylvania in Bangor will be moving its operations to Mexico, resulting in 98 lay-offs, U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins issued the following statement.

"We are very concerned about the welfare of the workers at Osram Sylvania located in Bangor, whose jobs will be relocated to Mexico. While Maine has experienced the extraordinary benefits of free trade, it has also experienced the other side of the sword----factory shutdowns and lost jobs. As we adjust to new economic trends, we must help those dislocated by trade.

"The loss of these jobs will have a major impact on the community, the employees, and their families. We will help these workers receive the training, assistance, and access to health benefits they need to get back into the job market, including petitioning Secretary Elaine Chao from the Department of Labor for Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program from which we have been successful in obtaining significant funding to dislocated workers in the past."

Under Federal Trade Act, workers dislocated by trade are eligible to receive cash assistance, training and job search and relocation allowances. Congress recently amended the Trade Act to provide up to 2 years of assistance to workers in training, as well as a refundable health tax credit for the cost of health insurance premiums.