DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-38,820

STANLEY FASTENING SYSTEMS
HAMLET, 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 has been determined that all criteria in this
case have been met.
The investigation was initiated on March 12, 2001, in response
to a petition filed on behalf of workers at Stanley Fastening
Systems, Hamlet, North Carolina. The workers are engaged in
activities related to the production of staples. The workers are
not separately identifiable by product line.
There were declines in sales and employment at Stanley
Fastening Systems, Hamlet, North Carolina, from 1999 to 2000 and in
the first two months of 2001 compared to the first two months of
2000.
The investigation further revealed that in February 2001,
Stanley Works announced its intention to close the Hamlet, North
Carolina plant. A significant amount of the Hamlet, North Carolina
production will be relocated to another domestic plant. The
production at the Single Wire Department of the subject firm,
however, was transferred to a foreign location. The company has
increased its imports of staples.
A petition for NAFTA-Transitional Adjustment Assistance has
been filed (NAFTA-4611).
Conclusion
After careful review of the facts obtained in the
investigation, I conclude that increases of imports of articles
like or directly competitive with staples produced at Stanley
Fastening Systems, Hamlet, 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 Stanley Fastening Systems, Hamlet, North
Carolina, who became totally or partially separated from
employment on or after March 1, 2000, through two years from
the date of certification, are eligible to apply for adjust-

ment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Signed in Washington, D. C. this 16th day of July, 2001.

/s/ Linda G. Poole

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