Layoff benefits through the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (TAA) are not available to Boeing workers who are losing their jobs this winter.

SPEEA and the Machinists Union have worked with the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC), AFL-CIO, in the past to secure the enhanced TAA (also known as Trade Act) benefits for laid off workers. The program first was authorized in 1974 to provide help to workers who lost their jobs in industries impacted by foreign trade or outsourcing.

Those benefits have included extended payments similar to unemployment insurance benefits, money to pay for training for a new job as well as cash to cover the cost of looking for a new job and moving to take one.

However, the program was not reauthorized by Congress, so it expired in 2022. Democratic Senators have introduced legislation to restart the Trade Act, but the efforts failed to pass the House of Representatives.

The incoming Trump administration probably will not champion TAA reauthorization, said SPEEA Legislative Director Brandon Anderson.

He noted that Project 2025, written by the Heritage Foundation to be a playbook for the new administration, specifically calls on Republicans to “resist calls for more spending on Trade Adjustment Assistance,” claiming it is “often hijacked for progressive ends” and that “displaced workers should receive the same benefits regardless of the reason.”

Anderson added, “we will continue to advocate for the reauthorization of TAA benefits, but it is highly unlikely Congress will act on TAA anytime soon.”