Rally at Vacant Plant Focuses on Job Losses, Pollution Rules : Economy: AQMD spokesman says many businesses are using public concern over layoffs to roll back reasonable government regulations.

Calling attention to the loss of thousands of jobs in the South Bay, business leaders and local elected officials held a rally Thursday at a former Carson mattress factory whose operations were recently moved to Mexico and Riverside County.

Dozens of unemployed workers attended the rally, which organizers hoped would highlight what they consider key reasons why businesses are leaving Southern California--oppressive environmental regulation and a costly workers’ compensation system.

“The purpose of this rally is to send a message to elected officials at the state and federal level that this job drain is real,” said Walter Neil, chairman of the Carson/Lomita/Torrance Private Industry Council, a federally funded group that provides job placement and retraining for unemployed workers. “It’s not imagined or fabricated by the business community.”

A spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District--an agency that came in for harsh criticism during the rally--acknowledged that business has some legitimate gripes. But the spokesman, Bill Kelly, said many businesses are using public concern created by a general economic downturn to roll back reasonable government regulations.

“Every time there is a down cycle, you can’t repeal public health and safety laws,” Kelly said. “I don’t believe that most people in this area want laws that have been passed to be repealed as a means of solving the problem.”

The rally took place in the former Advanced Sleep Products mattress factory, a 100,000-square-foot building that has been vacant since February.

At least 50 companies in the South Bay have initiated plant closings or layoffs during the past two years that spell a loss of at least 21,000 jobs, according to a recent study by the private industry council, a co-sponsor of Thursday’s rally.

The actual number of South Bay job losses during the two-year period is believed to be far higher, however, because the study only listed companies that had been awarded federal retraining grants through the agency, said Maryann Pranke, an employment and training specialist with the private industry council.

“The truth is obvious as we stand here in this sadly empty building that there is a very, very serious job flight problem and job loss problem in the state of California, particularly in Southern California,” said Barry A. Sanders, a co-chairman of Rebuild L.A., the nonprofit organization set up to rebuild Los Angeles after last spring’s riots.

His comments struck a chord with former workers at the mattress plant. Inglewood resident Trinidad Gamino was laid off by Advanced Sleep Products after eight years with the company. He has been unable to find other work since, and said he is struggling to support his wife and five children.

“Wherever you go for a job, they tell you they aren’t hiring or are laying off people,” Gamino said, speaking in Spanish. His former co-worker, Elva Salazar, said she was shocked when the news came of the plant closure.

“We were very disillusioned,” said Salazar, adding that she and her husband are selling their Carson home because her loss in income has made it difficult to meet their monthly mortgage.

William T. Huston, chairman of Watson Land Co., which owns the former plant site, blamed the South Coast Air Quality Management District for many of the problems affecting businesses in the area.

Other executives said companies often complain about the many months and sometimes years it takes to get environmental and building permits necessary to build a plant or expand operations. And Huston said the AQMD has placed an unfair burden on companies by enforcing increasingly tougher air pollution standards.

“The AQMD has fought us at every turn,” Huston said, adding that the agency’s pollution reduction plans affecting industry have been “Draconian.”

Kelly, the AQMD spokesman, said the air quality agency has streamlined its permitting process and is working closely with companies to provide better technical assistance.

But Kelly also said industry representatives have been overstating costs associated with abiding by environmental regulations.

“There’s no question that environmental regulations, including air quality regulations, impose a cost on business,” Kelly said. “However, we have found that air quality regulations result in one-half percent on average of the cost of doing business in Southern California.”

Packing It In

The following is a partial list of South Bay plant closings initiated in the past two years. It was compiled by the Carson/Lomita/Torrance Private Industry Council, a federally funded organization that provides job placement and retraining services to unemployed workers.

Company Location Business Advanced Sleep Products Carson Manufacturer of mattresses Aeroquip Carson Manufacturer of fasteners American National Can* Carson Manufacturer of alum. cans Boise Cascade Torrance Manufacturer of containers CCH Computax* Torrance Tax services California Home Brands Carson Cannery Carrol Shelby Carson Manufacturer of wheels Celestron Torrance Manufacturer of telescopes Cooper Industries Torrance Manufacturer of brake pads Douglas Aircraft Torrance Aerospace & defense Emerson Carson Computer equipment mfg. First Technology Carson Crash-test dummy mfg. Fletcher Oil* Carson Oil refinery Glenn Custom Hotel Furn. Carson Hotel furniture manufacturing Good Tables Carson Manufacturer of furniture Hanna Barbera Torrance Retail Hughes Airc. Microelec. Torrance Aerospace & defense Int’l Light Metals Torrance Metal products manufacturing Kellow Brown (Sorg Inc.) Carson Printers Mileage Plus Carson Airline acctg., clerical service Monsanto Carson Manufacturer of chemicals National Lumber Torrance Home improvement PPG Industries Torrance Paint products manufacturing Pan Am LAX Airline Peugeot Carson Automotive supply Primex Plastics Carson Plastic sheets mfg. Publ. Circulation Fulfillment Torrance Newspaper marketing Reynolds Metals* Torrance Metal products manufacturing Silverwoods Torrance Retail Starkist Carson Cannery Stor Torrance Furniture sales The Broadway Carson Department store Trend West Carson Manufacturer of water beds

* Partial closure only

South Bay Company Jobs Lost Reason Advanced Sleep Products 162 Moving to Mira Loma, Calif., and to Mexico Aeroquip 76 Aerospace decline American National Can* 35 Reorganization Boise Cascade 75 Plant eliminated CCH Computax* 124 Consolidation California Home Brands 75 Plant eliminated Carrol Shelby 210 Moving to Texas Celestron 8 Economic conditions Cooper Industries 82 Moving to Texas Douglas Aircraft 6,300 Defense cutbacks Emerson 68 Moving to Santa Ana First Technology 75 Moving to Michigan Fletcher Oil* 155 Economic conditions Glenn Custom Hotel Furn. 142 Moving plant to Mexico Good Tables 290 Moving plant to Mexico Hanna Barbera 10 Consolidation Hughes Airc. Microelec. 55 Moved to Canada Int’l Light Metals 1,380 Aerospace decline Kellow Brown (Sorg Inc.) 138 Bankrupt Mileage Plus 350 Moving to South Dakota Monsanto 47 Moving to Missouri National Lumber 89 Bankrupt PPG Industries 79 Moving to Pittsburgh Pan Am 200 Economic conditions Peugeot 20 Moving to New Jersey Primex Plastics 85 Moving to Nevada Publ. Circulation Fulfillment 89 Reduction of operation Reynolds Metals* 77 Closing a division Silverwoods 9 Economic conditions Starkist 200 Closed plant Stor 123 Sale of business The Broadway 113 Reorganization Trend West 70 Consolidation

* Partial closure only