I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2345
To provide assistance to employees who are subject to a plant closing or
mass layoff because their work is transferred to a foreign country that
has low wages or unhealthy working conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 8, 1993
Mr. FORD of Michigan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
A BILL
To provide assistance to employees who are subject to a
plant closing or mass layoff because their work is trans-
ferred to a foreign country that has low wages or
unhealthy working conditions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Jobs Protec-
tion Act’’.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
Sec. 5. Limitation on work transfer to low wage foreign countries.
Sec. 6. Notice requirements.
Sec. 7. Employee benefits.
Sec. 8. Restriction on employer to enter into contract with the United States
for failure to provide notice or benefits.
Sec. 9. Investigative authority.
Sec. 10. Enforcement.
Sec. 11. Procedures in addition to other rights of employees.
Sec. 12. Requirement of posting of notice by employer at site of employment.
Sec. 13. Effective date.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) During the last 2 decades millions of jobs
in the United States have been transferred by busi-
nesses to foreign countries to take advantage of the
low wages and lack of labor standards in those coun-
tries.
(2) Millions of additional jobs in the United
States are at risk of such a transfer during the
1990’s, particularly if the North American Free
Trade Agreement is approved by the Congress.
(3) The threat of the transfer of work to low
wage foreign countries suppresses wages and bene-
fits to workers in the United States and thereby
lessens the purchasing power of middle class families
in the United States.
(4) The transfer of jobs to low wage foreign
countries imposes a severe burden upon the individ-
ual workers who are dislocated by such transfers
and the communities which are affected by such
transfers.
(5) The provision of income, continued health
and pension benefits, and job training assistance to
such dislocated workers would significantly ease the
burdens caused by the transfer of jobs to low wage
foreign countries.
(6) The transfer of jobs to take advantage of
the low wages and lack of labor standards in foreign
countries is detrimental to the interests of the Unit-
ed States because such transfers are based on the
incorrect premise that the employees of businesses
constitute a cost to be lowered and not an asset
which should be developed and utilized.
(7) The best chance for the United States to
meet international competition in the future is to
focus on a competitive strategy that emphasizes
high-wage, high-skill employment as opposed to em-
ployment that competes internationally on the basis
of low wages.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to discourage the transfer of work to low
wage foreign countries; and
(2) to require businesses that transfer work to
low wage foreign countries to mitigate the costs of
the dislocation to workers and communities subject
to that dislocation.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
apply:
(1) AFFECTED
EMPLOYEES.—The term ‘‘af-
fected employees’’ means employees who may rea-
sonably be expected to experience an employment
loss as a consequence of a proposed plant closing or
mass layoff.
(2) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ means
any business enterprise that employs—
(A) 25 or more employees, excluding part-
time employment; or
(B) 25 or more employees who in the ag-
gregate work at least 1,000 hours per week.
Such term includes all business entities which have
substantial ownership interest, substantial manage-
ment authority or substantial control over the terms
and conditions of employment of employees at a site
of employment subject to an employment loss.
(3) EMPLOYMENT LOSS.—The term ‘‘employ-
ment loss’’ means—