DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-38,216

SAMSONITE CORPORATION
TUCSON, ARIZONA

Notice of Negative Determination
Regarding Application for Reconsideration

By application of December 5, 2000, the petitioner requested
administrative reconsideration of the Department's negative
determination regarding worker eligibility to apply for trade
adjustment assistance, applicable to workers of the subject firm.
The denial notice was signed on November 29, 2000 and will soon
be published in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to 29 CFR 90.18(c) reconsideration may be granted
under the following circumstances:
(1) If it appears on the basis of facts not previously
considered that the determination complained of
was erroneous;
(2) if it appears that the determination complained of
was based on a mistake in the determination of facts
not previously considered; or
(3) if in the opinion of the Certifying Officer, a mis-
interpretation of facts or of the law justified
reconsideration of the decision.
The request for reconsideration claims that subject plant
production of cut fabric used for further production of soft-
sided luggage is being transferred to Mexico and the cut fabric
is then incorporated into soft-sided luggage at the Mexican
facility. The finished suitcase is then shipped back to the
United States.
The denial of TAA for the workers of Samsonite in Tucson,
Arizona, was based on the finding that criterion (3) of the
worker group's eligibility requirements of Section 222 of the
Trade Act was not met. Layoffs at the subject firm were the
direct result of a shift in subject plant production of cut
fabric to Mexico. The cut fabric is not imported back to the
United States, but incorporated into the further production of
soft-sided luggage. The luggage is then imported back to the
United States.
As depicted in the negative determination, the preponderance
in the declines in employment at the subject plant may be related
to the subject firm's increasing imports of finished luggage made
of cut fabric pieces. Increased imports of finished articles
cannot be used as the basis for certification of workers
producing a component for the finished article. Imports of cut
fabric for soft-sided luggage and not of finished soft-sided
luggage must be considered as the basis for possible
certification of this case.







Conclusion
After review of the application and investigative findings,
I conclude that there has been no error or misinterpretation of
the law or of the facts which would justify reconsideration of
the Department of Labor's prior decision. Accordingly, the
application is denied.

Signed at Washington, D.C. this 11th day of December 2000.

/s/ Linda G. Poole

LINDA G. POOLE
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance