Trade Bill

In response to “Reagan Offers to Sign Trade Bill Without Labor ‘Frills’ ” (Part I, May 1):

One of the labor “frills” is a provision which would require that workers be given 60 days’ notice of large layoffs. As Rep. Don Pease (D-Ohio) said, the notice is “a measure of common courtesy.” Members of Congress and the President get 60 days’ notice.

To workers laid off due to a plant shutdown, notice is more than a “frill” or a courtesy. When auto, steel and tire plants were closing in the 1970s in Los Angeles, hearings were held to study the impact of plant closures on workers. One laid off worker at Ford (Pico Rivera) testified: “I think the situation at Ford is aggravated by the abruptness of the plant closure. We’d been working six days a week for four years. And we were given the impression it would last forever. . . . We, who work for Ford, are experiencing severe shock from the short notice that we received.”

In some cases workers who felt secure in their jobs had purchased cars or homes shortly before the factory closed and suffered financial hardships as a result.

Of course the homes they bought were not in Bel-Air nor were they purchased by wealthy supporters. They weren’t quite as fortunate as Nancy and Ronald Reagan.

EDITH L. PERLMUTTER

Santa Monica