A Little Breathing Room

The plant-closing notification bill is neither radical nor socialistic, as President Reagan implied when he so grudgingly announced on Tuesday that he would permit it to become law without his signature. The legislation is reasonable and fair. Beginning in February, it no longer will be possible for scores of workers to show up at their plant some morning to find the gates locked and themselves out of jobs--told, in effect, that their services had lost their value overnight.

Most companies--those with fewer than 100 employees--will not be affected by the 60-day notice requirement. There are exemptions for plant closings or layoffs that are caused by unforeseen circumstances. Also exempted are companies that would be precluded from obtaining capital or new business that might keep them afloat if they announced in advance that they were closing. With such loopholes, there is no danger that the law will make American firms non-competitive and drive them out of business.

The President said that “we should not go down the road of European labor policy” that he claimed has not produced new jobs or saved old ones. But Japan has a plant-closing law and continues to grow. Canada has had relative success in locating new jobs for workers laid off under its similar notification laws.

The new law will allow some American workers a little breathing room and the bare minimum of economic security as they try to plan the rest of their lives after suffering the trauma of being fired or laid off from jobs that they may have held for years. That’s about all. It requires some fairness and compassion, which many firms already provide voluntarily. It is, in fact, the American way.