President Renews Pledge to Veto Trade Bill in Its Present Form

With approval of the House-passed trade bill expected in the Senate this week, President Reagan on Saturday renewed his vow to veto the measure in its present form, while Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said that a veto will mean “the big boys with the golden parachutes count more than the little guy.”

Reagan sounded the warning in his weekly radio talk, adding that he is “confident that my veto will be sustained.” The far-reaching measure passed the 435-seat House on a 312-107 roll call Thursday.

Reagan commended some aspects of the bill but also criticized it for “provisions that are unacceptable.” He praised the measure because it “enhances our negotiating authority in the ongoing international trade talks, repeals the windfall profits tax and creates a retraining program for workers who have been laid off.”

Labor Backs Provision

The President did not make his major objection to the legislation clear--as he did in an address Friday to a group of state legislators. It focuses on a provision backed by organized labor and opposed by many businessmen that would require employers of more than 100 workers to give 60 days’ notice of intent to close a plant or carry out large-scale layoffs.

Byrd filled in the blank as he delivered the regular Democratic response to the President’s radio talk. Saying that the bill tells the world “watch out--you’ve got competition” from U.S. industry and “gets us moving in the right direction,” Byrd said a veto would put these hopes at risk.

‘President Is Upset’

“The President is upset that the trade bill includes one small section to protect the workers from suddenly being laid off without notice,” Byrd said, even though “simple justice” would call for such notice.

“If the President stands up for America, he will sign the trade bill. If the President vetoes the trade bill, he will be sending another message--the big boys with the golden parachutes count more than the little guy,” Byrd said.

Praising the bill as “a reasonable response to a trade policy that has gone awry,” Byrd said it “opens up new markets, invests in people and ideas and creates new opportunities for American industries and workers to work together.”