DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-39,416
PILLOWTECH CORPORATION
FIELDCREST CANNON - PLANT 4
KANNAPOLIS, NORTH CAROLINA

TA-W-39,416C
PILLOWTECH CORPORATION
FIELDCREST CANNON - EAGLE & PHENIX
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

Notice of Revised Determination
on Reconsideration

By letter of October 8, 2001, the company requested administrative reconsideration of the Department=s denial of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance applicable to workers and former workers of Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C).
The initial investigations resulted in negative determinations issued on August 14, 2001, and published in the Federal Register on August 23, 2001 (66 FR 44379). The investigation findings for Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C) showed that increased imports did not contribute importantly to worker separations at the respective plants.
The company in their request for reconsideration provided additional documentation pertaining to the product produced at Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4. The new data supplied by the company indicated that the company increased their reliance on imported sheeting fabric during the relevant period, contributing to the layoffs at the subject plant.
The company also provided clarification concerning the yarn produced at the Fieldcrest Cannon - Eagle and Phenix plant. The initial decision was based on the subject plant producing yarn. The new information provided by the company shows that the yarn produced at the subject facility was further processed into terry bath towels, hand towels and washcloths at the subject plant and then sold to outside sources. A sister facility (Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 1, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B) producing the same products (terry bath towels, hand towels and washcloths) was certified on August 14, 2001. The certification was based on aggregate U.S. imports of terry cloth towels and washcloths increasing significantly during the relevant period, combined with the import to shipment ratio exceeding 170 percent.
Conclusion

After careful review of the additional facts obtained on reconsideration, I conclude that increased imports of articles like or directly competitive with sheeting fabric and terry cloth towels and washcloths, respectively contributed importantly to the declines in sales or production and to the total or partial separation of workers of Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C). In accordance with the provisions of the Act, I make the following certification:
"All workers of Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C), who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after August 14, 2000, through two years from the date of this certification are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974."

Signed in Washington, D.C. this 13th day of November, 2001.

/s/ Edward A. Tomchick

EDWARD A. TOMCHICK
Director, Division of
Trade Adjustment Assistance

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-39,416
PILLOWTEX CORPORATION
FIELDCREST CANNON - PLANT 4
KANNAPOLIS, NORTH CAROLINA

TA-W-39,416A
PILLOWTEX CORPORATION
ROCKY MOUNT PLANT
ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA

TA-W-39,416B
PILLOWTEX CORPORATION
FIELDCREST CANNON - PLANT 1
KANNAPOLIS, NORTH CAROLINA

TA-W-39,416C
PILLOWTEX CORPORATION
FIELDCREST CANNON - EAGLE & PHENIX
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

Notice of Determinations 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:
(1) that a significant number or proportion of the workers in the workers' firm, or an appropriate subdivision thereof, have become totally or partially separated, or are threatened to become totally or partially separated;

(2) that sales or production, or both, of the firm or subdivision have decreased absolutely; and




(3) that increases of imports of articles like or directly competitive with articles produced by the firm or appropriate subdivision have contributed importantly to the separations, or threat thereof, and to the absolute decline in sales or production.

The investigation was initiated in response to a petition received on June 11, 2001 and filed by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) on behalf of workers and former workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416), Pillowtex Corporation, Rocky Mount Plant, Rocky Mount, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416A), Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 1, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C). The subject firm workers produce the following:
TA-W-39,416------Sheeting Fabric
TA-W-39,416A-----Comforters and Pillows
TA-W-39,416B-----Towels and Washcloths
TA-W-39,416C-----Yarn
Workers are not separately identifiable by product line within each plant, but separately identifiable by plant.
Pillowtex Corporation, Rocky Mount Plant,
Rocky Mount, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416A)

It has been determined with respect to workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Rocky Mount Plant, Rocky Mount, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416A) that all of the criteria have been met.

Plant sales, production and employment declined during the relevant period. A major customer for whom the plant produced comforters and pillows awarded a contract to another manufacturer. That manufacturer, outsourced a significant portion of the production of comforters and pillows to foreign sources and imported the products back to the United States to serve the customers needs.
Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 1,
Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B)
It has been determined with respect to workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 1, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B) that all criteria have been met.
Plant sales, production and employment declined during the relevant period. Aggregate U.S. imports of terry towels and washcloths increased significantly from 1999 to 2000 and from January through May 2001 over the corresponding 2000 period. The import to shipment ratio during the year 2000 was over 170 percent.
Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4,
Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416)

It has been determined with respect to workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) that criterion (3) has not been met.

The workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) produced sheeting fabric for sheets, comforters and decorative accessories. The preponderance in the declines in sales, production and employment at the subject plant is attributed to style restrictions and equipment limitations. The company replaced a portion of the plants production with an affiliated domestic plants production of sheeting fabric and the purchase of sheeting fabric from other domestic vendors. The company did not import sheeting fabric. U.S. imports of sheeting fabric are relatively stable. The U.S. import to shipment ratio during the year 2000 is relatively low. The fabric is not vertically integrated into any other affiliated facilities under Trade Adjustments Assistance certification.
Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Eagle & Phenix,
Columbus, Georgia, (TA-W-39,416C)

It has been determined with respect to workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C) that criterion (3) has not been met.
The workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C) produced yarn used in the production of terry bath towels, hand towels and washcloths. The company is in the process of shifting all plant production to Phoenix City, Alabama. Aggregate U.S. imports of yarn declined during the twelve month period ended May 2001 over the corresponding twelve month period ended May 2000. The U.S. import to U.S. production ratio of yarn is relatively low. The workers at Pillowtex Corp, Newton, North Carolina were certified for TAA benefits on June 4, 2001. That certification was based on increased company imports of yarn (a different type of yarn than what was produced at the subject plant). The yarn is not vertically integrated into any other affiliated facilities under Trade Adjustments Assistance certification.

Conclusion
After careful review of the facts obtained in the investi-gation, I conclude that increases of imports of articles like or directly competitive with comforters and pillows (TA-W-39,416A) and towels and washcloths (TA-W-39,416B) produced at Pillowtex Corporation, Rocky Mount Plant, Rocky Mount, North Carolina


(TA-W-39,416A) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 1, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B) respectively,
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 Pillowtex Corporation, Rocky Mount Plant, Rocky Mount, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416A) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon - Plant 1, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416B) who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after June 11, 2000, through two years from date of certification are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974."

"I further determine that all workers at Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Plant 4, Kannapolis, North Carolina (TA-W-39,416) and Pillowtex Corporation, Fieldcrest Cannon-Eagle & Phenix, Columbus, Georgia (TA-W-39,416C) are denied eligibility to apply for adjustment assistance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974."

Signed in Washington, D. C. this 14th day of August, 2001


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