[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46854-46855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19582]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
[TA-W-75,090]
Wausau Daily Herald, Advertising Production Division, a
Subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc.,Wausau, WI; Notice of Negative
Determination on Reconsideration
On March 18, 2011, the Department issued an Affirmative
Determination Regarding Application for Reconsideration regarding
workers' eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)
applicable to workers and former workers of Wausau Daily Herald,
Advertising Production Division, a Subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc.,
Wausau, Wisconsin (subject firm). The Department's Notice was published
in the Federal Register on March 29, 2011 (76 FR 17446). Workers were
engaged in employment related to the supply of graphic design services
for newspaper advertisements.
The initial investigation resulted in a negative determination
based on the findings that, during the relevant period, the subject
firm did not shift to/acquire from a foreign country services like or
directly competitive with the graphic design work supplied at the
subject firm, or import these services from a foreign country. The
Department collected information that revealed that worker group
separations at the subject firm were attributable to a domestic shift
of operations.
In the March 1, 2011 request for reconsideration, the petitioner
alleged that ``ads submitted to 2SdPro, India'' demonstrate that
``Gannett is outsourcing ads in order to reduce the workforce.'' The
petitioner also asserts that attachments to the petition support the
allegation of a shift of services to India. Several of the attachments
are printouts of articles from Gannettoid.com, which is a Web site that
is not affiliated with Gannett Company, Inc.
The petition attachments consist of:
A January 4, 2011 letter from the petitioner that states,
in part, ``in April of 2010'' a portion of all online ads were sent to
2Adpro, that the ``consolidation enables Gannett to eliminate all
graphic artist positions at all Gannett daily newspapers (10 sites in
Wisconsin) by outsourcing ads, and that the ``ad centers in Des Moines,
IA and Indianapolis, IN are centers in which all the ads flow through *
* * then * * * sent to 2AdPro in India'';
An August 5, 2010 separation notification letter;
A document titled ``Articles explaining Gannett action in
reducing Ad Services Staff in all Gannett sites in the U.S.'';
A November 23, 2009 ``Gannettoid'' article titled
``Tentative rollout schedule set for GPCs'';
An August 20, 2009 ``Gannettoid'' article titled ``Ad
Centers lead to cuts, big savings'';
A September 2, 2009 ``Gannettoid'' article titled
``Company confirms RABC reports'';
An August 27, 2009 ``Gannettoid'' article titled ``When
will GCI confirm consolidation?'';
An August 17, 2009 ``Gannettoid'' article titled ``Ad
production plans include layoffs'';
A December 8, 2010 press release from Gannett;
A June 6, 2008 article on http://ashvegas.squarespace.com
titled ``Citizen-Times outsourcing jobs to India?'';
[[Page 46855]]
Screenshots of a ``job order list'' from ``Zaapro
Jobdirect'' with a handwritten note ``ads sent to 2AdPro India while
still working at Wausau Daily Herald. From Wausau to India''
(referenced in the January 4, 2011 letter);
A list of newspapers or Gannett affiliates, with contact
information (referenced in the January 4, 2011 letter); and
An undated ``Gannettoid'' article titled ``Tracking
layoffs'' with a handwritten note ``See page 10 for Wisconsin.''
During the reconsideration investigation, the Department carefully
reviewed information previously submitted from Gannett Co., Inc. and
the petitioning worker group as well as information provided in the
request for reconsideration and additional information submitted by the
State of Wisconsin Dislocated Worker Program case manager assigned to
the petitioner.
During the reconsideration investigation, the Department also
collected new information from Gannett Co., Inc. regarding domestic and
foreign operations in order to address the allegations and obtained
clarification of previously-submitted information.
A careful review of previously-submitted information revealed that
2AdPro (an advertising firm located in India) handled an insignificant
amount of overflow work for the subject firm and that the work that was
transferred from the subject worker group in October 2010 was shifted
to the Gannett Production Center and not to 2AdPro and that the plan to
create the Gannett Production Center (GPC) dates back to October 2007.
Information obtained during the reconsideration investigation
confirmed that workers and former workers of Wausau Daily Herald,
Advertising Production Division, a Subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc.,
Wausau, Wisconsin (subject worker group) performed advertising
production work on computers for print and on-line publications, that
advertising publication at the subject firm was consolidated into a
Gannett corporate operation located in Des Moines, Iowa and
Indianapolis, India in October 2010, that the corporate operation is
known as the Gannett Production Center (GPC), and that workers who
chose not to transfer to the GPC were separated.
New information obtained during the reconsideration investigation
revealed that the contract between Gannett Co., Inc. and 2AdPro existed
from September 2006 through March 2011 and that 2AdPro handled an
insignificant amount of advertising production work outsourced from the
subject facility prior to the consolidation of operations to the GPC.
Based on a careful review of information obtained during the
initial and reconsideration investigations, the Department determines
that neither a shift to a foreign country by the subject firm of
services like or directly competitive with the graphic design work
supplied by workers at the subject firm nor a foreign acquisition by
the subject firm of such services, contributed importantly to subject
worker group separations. Additionally, the subject firm did not
increase imports of services like or directly competitive with those
supplied by the subject worker group. Rather, worker separations at the
subject firm in the period under investigation were attributable to a
consolidation of domestic operations.
Conclusion
After careful reconsideration, I affirm the original notice of
negative determination of eligibility to apply for worker adjustment
assistance for workers and former workers of Wausau Daily Herald,
Advertising Production Division, a Subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc.,
Wausau, Wisconsin.
Signed in Washington, DC this 20th day of July, 2011.
Del Min Amy Chen,
Certifying Officer, Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
[FR Doc. 2011-19582 Filed 8-2-11; 8:45 am]
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