Isabela mayor pledges assistance to workers displaced by Trajector closure
By The Star Staff
Trajector, which offered teleservice telephone calls to various companies, as well as the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration, laid off 425 people in Isabela and is shutting down, Isabela Mayor Miguel Méndez said Tuesday.
“This has been a surprise for everyone, starting with the employees,” the mayor said. “In December the entity completed a process of remodeling its facilities. Prior to that, a job fair had been held.”
Méndez said he contacted the Consortium of Municipalities last Friday to explore alternatives for reemployment, retraining or studies for the unemployed.
A letter delivered to the laid-off workers and signed by Jim Hill, identified as CO-CEO of Trajector, states that they had been looking for investors to continue operations in Puerto Rico, but the search did not yield the expected results.
Méndez pointed out that on Thursday at 8 a.m. there will be a meeting at the Justo Méndez Cabrera Municipal Amphitheater with the unemployed and various agencies of the central government, such as the Department of Labor and Human Resources, to find alternatives.
“In the Municipality of Isabela we are ready to work along with this situation and generate employment options for our people,” the mayor said. “We know that it is a very difficult situation for these 425 people and it is important to move quickly. We have already started with the Consortium and we hope to generate good news soon.”
Labor and Human Resources Secretary Gabriel Maldonado-González spoke about the matter on Monday.
“We became aware of the closure of a company in the municipality of Isabela that caused the dismissal of about 410 employees,” he said in a written statement. “At this time, no complaints have been filed with the Labor Standards Bureau, a specialized unit of the Department of Labor and Human Resources that attends to non-union employees of private companies so that they are guaranteed the rights established in the legislation protecting the workforce in Puerto Rico.”