DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

TA-W-41,358

OWENS-BRIGAM MEDICAL COMPANY
HEADQUARTERS
MORGANTON, 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 on April 22, 2002 in
response to a petition filed on behalf of workers at Owens-BriGam
Medical Company, Morganton, North Carolina. The workers provided
administrator support services for manufacturing facilities which
produced disposable anesthesia and respiratory supplies such as
face masks and tubes.
A petition for the NAFTA Transitional Adjustment Assistance
has been filed on behalf of workers at the subject plant (NAFTA -
06061).
This investigation revealed that employment at the subject
firm decreased in 2000 as compared with 1999. The subject
facility closed March 25, 2002.
The company has increased imports of disposable anesthesia
and respiratory supplies such as face masks and tubes since 2000.


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 disposable anesthesia and respira-
tory supplies such as face masks and tubes at Owens-BriGam
Medical Company, Morganton, North Carolina, contributed impor-
tantly to the decline in sales or 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 Owens-BriGam Medical Company, Morganton,
North Carolina, providing administrative support services,
who became totally or partially separated from employment on
or after March 26, 2001, through two years from the date of
certification are eligible to apply for adjustment assis-
tance under Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974."
Signed in Washington, D. C. this 1st day of July, 2002.

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