DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-40,877

ESP/JOCASSEE TRADING CO.
EASLEY, SOUTH 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
eligibility 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 March 4, 2002, and filed by the company on behalf of
workers at ESP/Jocassee Trading Co., Easley, South Carolina. The
workers at the subject firm produced pillowcases, sheet sets, and
comforters. The workers at the subject firm are not separately
identifiable by product line.
The investigation revealed that sales, production, and
employment at the subject firm declined absolutely during the
relevant period.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that aggregate U.S.
imports of pillowcases, sheet sets, and comforters increased
absolutely during the relevant period.
A petition for eligibility to apply for NAFTA-Transitional
Adjustment Assistance has been filed by the company on behalf of
workers at the subject firm (NAFTA-5577).
Conclusion
After careful review of the facts obtained in the
investigation, I conclude that increases of imports of articles
like or directly competitive with those produced at the subject
firm 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 ESP/Jocassee Trading Co., Easley, South
Carolina, engaged in employment related to the production of
pillowcases, sheet sets, and comforters who became totally or
partially separated from employment on or after September 24,
2000, 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 19th day of June, 2002.


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