DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-38,326

ENCORE TEXTILES, INC.
MONROE, 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 November 20, 2000, filed by a company official on
behalf of workers at Encore Textiles, Inc., Monroe, North Caro-
lina. The workers were engaged in the production of cotton tee
shirts.
A petition for NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance has
also been filed for this same worker group (NAFTA-4278). 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 all declined to zero on October
30, 2000 when the Monroe 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
cotton tee shirts in 1999, 2000, and January 2001. The survey
revealed that respondents reported increasing their imports of
cotton tee shirts 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 cotton tee shirts
produced at Encore Textiles, Inc., Monroe,, 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 Encore Textiles, Inc., Monroe, North
Carolina who became totally or partially separated from
employment on or after October 31, 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 20th day of February, 2001.


/s/ Linda G. Poole
______________________________
LINDA G. POOLE
Certifying Officer, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance