DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-38,257

PINE STATE KNITWEAR COMPANY, INC.
STATESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Certification Regarding Eligibility
To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance

In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
USC 2273) as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act
of 1988 (P. L. 100-418), the Department of Labor herein presents
the results of an investigation regarding certification of eligi-
bility to apply for worker adjustment assistance.
In order to make an affirmative determination and issue a
certification of eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance
each of the group eligibility requirements of Section 222 of the
Act must be met. It is determined in this case that all of the
requirements have been met.
The investigation was initiated in response to a petition
received on October 30, 2000, filed on behalf of workers at Pine
State Knitwear Company, Inc., Statesville, North Carolina. The
workers were engaged in the production of men's and women's
sweaters.
A petition for NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance has
also been filed for this same worker group (NAFTA-4247). A
decision on worker eligibility for the NAFTA-TAA program will be
made concurrently with this determination.
This investigation revealed that sales, production, and
employment at the subject firm declined to zero on October 12,
2000 when the Statesville plant ceased operating and permanently
shut down.
The U.S. Department of Labor conducted a survey of major
customers of the subject firm concerning their purchases of men's
and women's sweaters in 1998, 1999, and January-November 2000.
The survey revealed that respondents reported increasing their
imports of men's and women's sweaters from offshore, while
decreasing their purchases from the subject firm during the
relevant period.
Conclusion
After careful review of the facts obtained in the
investigation, I conclude that increased imports from offshore of
articles like or directly competitive with men's and women's
sweaters produced at Pine State Knitwear Company, Inc.,
Statesville, North Carolina, contributed importantly to the
decline in sales or production and to the total or partial
separation of workers of that firm.





In accordance with the provisions of the Act, I make the
following certification:
"All workers of Pine State Knitwear Company, Inc., States-
ville, North Carolina who became totally or partially
separated from employment on or after October 13, 1999,
through two years from the date of certification are
eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under Section
223 of the Trade Act of 1974."

Signed at Washington, D.C., this 26th day of January, 2001.

/s/ Linda G. Poole


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