WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced the release of a competency model for the commercial and industrial construction industry. The new model is now the eighteenth available from the Competency Model Clearinghouse, and can be accessed through the department's CareerOneStop website at http://www.careeronestop.org/competencymodel/default.aspx.

Farrell-Cooper Mining Co. fined in 2007 death of truck driver at surface coal mine

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced it has reached a settlement agreement with Farrell-Cooper Mining Co. in the 2007 death of an employee at its Rock Island Mine in Le Flore County, Okla. Farrell-Cooper has agreed to pay penalties totaling $375,204 for seven citations issued in the wake of the fatality, including three flagrant violations.

LUMBERTON, N.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs today filed an administrative complaint against Nash Finch Co. for systematically discriminating against more than 80 qualified women who applied for order selector positions at the company's Lumberton facility. Nash Finch is the second-largest publicly traded wholesale food distributor in the United States and is based in Minneapolis, Minn. The company contracts with the federal government to provide goods and services to more than 200 military bases in the U.S.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the extension of Unemployment Insurance benefits:

"President Obama has said that Americans don't expect Washington to solve their problems, but they rightfully expect government to work for them – not against them. I agree.

DAYTON, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced that Gary L. Merritt, vice president of Bemcore Inc. of Dayton, has been sentenced by a federal district court in Ohio to five years’ probation and was ordered to restore $186,070 to his victims.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued trustee Colette Mordo for alleged misuse of more than $4.6 million in plan assets of the Sadimara Knitwear Inc. and the Stallion Knits Ltd. defined benefit pension plans, in violation of her fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The lawsuit is based on an investigation by the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced a proposed rule that will help America's workers better understand target date retirement funds and other similar investments offered in 401(k)-type pension plans.

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration today announced that the owner of Philadelphia Pension Planning Corp., formerly located in Montgomery County, Pa., was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $715,228.79 to the Bustleton Landscaping Co. Inc. Profit Sharing Plan for making a false statement in the Form 5500 annual report.

KENNESAW, Ga. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring the Hoyla Insurance Group Inc. and owner Michael Hoyla to restore $77,470.48 to the former company's 401(k) retirement plan.

Following an investigation by the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration, the department filed a lawsuit alleging that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by comingling employee contributions with company funds.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration, today released the following statement in response to two massive explosions that rocked the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand. Twenty-nine miners are believed to have been killed.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Nov. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 407,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 441,000. The 4-week moving average was 436,000, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 443,500.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $517,197 grant to provide an estimated 210 jobless workers in Utah with partial premium payments for health insurance coverage.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $4 million National Emergency Grant award to assist cleanup and recovery efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Otto that struck Puerto Rico in October.

These funds will be awarded to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources. Funds will be used to create temporary jobs to assist in the recovery from the severe storm's devastation, which included flooding and landslides.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $2,579,730 National Emergency Grant increment to Massachusetts to continue providing services to workers affected by layoffs in the financial industry. More than 700 workers will be served under this funding.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $2,073,235 grant to assist about 330 workers who reside in Massachusetts affected by layoffs and closings at 12 companies, 11 in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut.

LAKELAND, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued defunct GBK & Associates Inc. and its owners, Deborah Burgess-Wyngate and George Kamanis, to restore losses suffered by the company’s 401(k) plan participants and beneficiaries. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained consent judgments requiring Medipharm-Rx Inc. and two 401(k) plan administrators to restore more than $10,000 in losses incurred by the company’s 401(k) plan.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor is suing the defunct Bordes Group Inc. and the estate of its late owner, Roy Bordes, to restore assets to the company’s 401(k) plan for the benefit of the plan’s participants and beneficiaries.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today hosted the 2010 Job Corps Oratory Competition in Washington, D.C. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis delivered opening remarks before four finalists from California, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky took the stage to present their speeches about how Job Corps has impacted their lives.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 380 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 13 coal and six metal/nonmetal mine operations last month.