The federal government will offer job training assistance to 66 Maui Pineapple Co. workers who lost their jobs earlier this year when the company shut down its Kahului cannery.

The workers were certified for assistance under two U.S. Labor Department programs that provide support to workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition, according to a news release from the office of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

Maui Pineapple Co. is a subsidiary of Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

"The federal assistance for the laid-off Maui Pineapple workers offers them hope during these especially tough economic times that now engulfs Hawai'i and the rest of our nation," Inouye said.