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BETHLEHEM (Jan 13)
– Senator Lisa M. Boscola today
announced that a joint, bi-state
Rapid Response Team from
Pennsylvania and New Jersey has been
formed to assist Lehigh Valley
workers who recently lost their jobs
at Interstate Ironworks.
The
joint-state Rapid Response Team will
hold an initial informational
meeting on Thursday, January 20th,
at 1:30 p.m. at the Bethlehem
Volunteer Firemen’s Home (located at
Hillmand St. & N. New St. in
Bethlehem) to assist displaced
workers.
State officials from both the
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and
Industry and the New Jersey
Department of Labor and Workforce
Development will be present at the
meeting.
“It’s just been a nightmare for
these workers,” Boscola said. “They
were laid off just before Christmas
without any warning or any advance
notice at all.”
Immediately after the company closed
its doors, Boscola began working
with the state Department of Labor
and Industry to help local residents
who worked at the New Jersey plant.
“The plant is located in
Whitehouse, New Jersey,” Boscola
said. “I wanted our Department of
Labor and Industry to come to where
these laid-off workers live, instead
of forcing them to travel to New
Jersey. When you don’t have a
paycheck coming in, that kind of
travel is more than just an
inconvenience—it’s a real hardship.”
She also urged the New
Jersey Department of Labor and
Workforce Development to address
complaints that the company never
paid its employees for their final
week of work before being laid off.
“I
know of many workers from the Valley
who have not been paid for their
hours of labor over a one-week
period before being laid off,”
Boscola said. “While New Jersey
officials clearly have jurisdiction
over any legal issues at hand, I
will continue to work with them to
determine whether any labor laws
were broken and to make sure these
workers do get paid.
Boscola said that the Rapid Response
Team will assist area residents deal
with unemployment issues, qualify
for job-training programs, and take
advantage of state-funded counseling
and employment services.
For more information,
former employees of Interstate
Ironworks are urged to contact
Senator Boscola’s office.
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