ORANGE — Former workers of the closed Rodney Hunt Fontaine Inc. factory in Orange are eligible for benefits if they lost their jobs to outsourcing.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Nov. 4 found employees had been hurt by foreign competition, and those made partially or entirely unemployed on or after Feb. 24, 2015, and before Nov. 4, 2018, are entitled to assistance to get back on their feet.
Available benefits include weekly cash benefits, financial assistance for remedial or vocational training programs, travel allowances to and from training, and job search expenses and relocation allowances. For more information about the benefits, all workers should apply at the Franklin Hampshire Career Center at 1 Arch Place in Greenfield, or their nearest One-Stop Career Center.
Rodney Hunt, a 175-year-old maker of fluid valves and flood gates, is now owned by Rexnord Corp., which this past year closed the local plant, moving its 200 jobs to Pittsburgh.
Lisa Lapierre, programs director at Franklin-Hampshire Career Center, said the benefits are available to workers who were on Rodney Hunt’s payroll and to on-site workers employed by Reliable Temps Inc., Robert Half Management Resources/OfficeTeam and Office Temps, Elite Logistic Services or Randstad.
Lapierre said the assistance is made available due to the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2015. She said the training offered is vital.
“You might have someone who worked at Rodney Hunt for many years and was perfectly skilled to work there and just may not have the transferable skills needed to work somewhere else,” she said, “and this can provide them with retraining to get their skills up to par, to where they need to be to work in a different organization.”
The deadline to apply for benefits is Nov. 4, 2018.
One-Stop Career Centers in the area include a location on the second floor of the Orange Innovation Center at 131 West Main St. in Orange. This satellite location is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The location at 1 Arch Place in Greenfield can be reached at 413-774-4361.