Governor Backs Reagan’s Veto of Trade Measure

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday wholeheartedly endorsed President Reagan’s controversial veto of trade legislation that would have guaranteed workers advance notice of plant closings.

For the government to require companies to give employees advance notice of major layoffs “could be counter-productive” and actually cost jobs in the long run, the governor told reporters.

It was the first time the Republican governor has publicly taken a position on the issue, which Democrats hope to seize upon this fall to win back blue-collar voters who deserted their party to vote for Reagan in the last two presidential elections.

Deukmejian’s position ultimately could affect his own standing among blue-collar Californians if, as expected, he runs for a third term in 1990. But more immediately, it sends a clear signal to sponsors of similar legislation in Sacramento that he would veto such a measure.

Assemblyman Richard Floyd (D-Hawthorne) is pushing a bill, now stymied in the Senate Industrial Relations Committee, that would require companies with more than 100 employees to give 60 days notice of plant closings or major layoffs--a provision similar to the one rejected by Reagan.

Deukmejian did not spell out precisely why he feels that such a provision might actually cost jobs, but he referred to examples cited by Reagan in his veto on Tuesday of the omnibus trade bill. Among the bill’s many provisions was the requirement of advance notice for plant closings. The President argued that similar government requirements in Europe have discouraged hiring and business formation.

Deukmejian said “everyone agrees--I certainly do--that if somebody is going to close a plant, they (should) give as much notice as possible to the employees, not only for the benefit of the employees but for the community.” But he said this should be voluntary, not mandatory. He also said the government should help retrain workers who lose their jobs in major layoffs.

The governor was interviewed by reporters in Los Angeles after he addressed a sellout crowd of 1,000 at a World Trade Week luncheon sponsored by the Foreign Trade Assn. of Southern California. In the speech, he called upon Reagan and the Congress “to work together as judiciously as possible” to write a new trade bill “that renounces protectionism.”

“Foreign competition should not be seen as a threat,” said Deukmejian, who--like most Republican leaders nationally--preaches free trade, but fair trade. “It’s an incentive--one that spurs innovation and job-creating investment, productivity and customer satisfaction, lower prices and higher standards of living.”

Deukmejian lamented that American manufacturers “in too many instances” have been beaten by foreign competitors because “quarterly profits have become more important than quality products.”

“Just take a look at what the Japanese are up to lately,” he said. “A Japanese home-building company can build a house that turns 180 degrees during the day so that each room gets sunlight. Farmers offer designer apples, with your own personal message organically grown into the skin. And Sony has developed an answering machine that fights back against obscene phone calls: The device is programmed to react to certain words with a high-pitched blast of 100 decibels into the caller’s ear.

“With a job like I have, I look forward to getting one of those machines.”