STRONG – People who worked at the now-closed Forster Manufacturing plant here have been qualified to receive federal Trade Adjustment Assistance by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Forster closed its doors June 6, ending a 116-year history of producing wood products. It was once the largest maker of birch toothpicks in the world. More recently, the plant had concentrated on making wooden clothespins to supplement its toothpick business.

Foreign competition was determined to have played a major role in the company’s demise.

“After careful review of the facts,” wrote Elliott S. Kushner, the DOL’s certifying officer for trade adjustment, “I determine that increases of imports of articles like or directly competitive with wooden clothespins produced at Alltrista Consumer Products Co. … contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of workers and to the decline in sales or production at that firm or subdivision.”

Alltrista is Forster’s parent company.

“All workers of Alltrista … who became totally or partially separated from employment on or after May 21, 2002 … are eligible to apply for adjustment assistance.”

The eligibility runs for two years from the date of Kushner’s finding, June 26.

The determination means that former Forster workers can apply for and receive up to two years of approved job retraining and extended unemployment benefits. The government will pay for books, tuition and transportation costs for those who choose to go to school, and offer relocation allowances if needed.

Before the plant shut down, several Forster workers said they had hoped they’d quality for the TAA assistance. One said he hoped to get trained in the building trades. Another said he wanted to become an auto mechanic.

An earlier TAA application had been rejected by the DOL because Alltrista hadn’t made it clear in its bid for assistance that it had started importing foreign-make clothespins. Because labor is cheaper in places such as China, the company could buy clothespins made there at a cost lower than making them in Strong.

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