Organize - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Take, for example, the decision this month by the owner of to shut the El DoradioHills company's doors after 64 yearzs in business. Cecil Wetsel was negotiating an assegt salewith , but the sawmil will almost certainly close forever, putting 120 employeews out of work. Wetsel probablgy felt like the short, bespectacled kid at a dodge-ball game by the end, with projectile s coming in from ever point ofthe compass.
Despite recored demand for lumber, the business was beset by declininb revenue, amid strong foreign competition, and by increaser costs -- for everythingt from natural gasand electricity, to meeting environmentakl regulations, to paying for workers' compensation That last factor was likely the finao straw; Wetsel-Oviatt's workers' comp tab doubled in the past year, to $1.7 As we reported in June, union laborers at the company vote to help it stay afloat and cover the insurance hike by denying themselves a 3 percent raise that they had negotiater as part of their contract.
When labofr and management are on the same side anda 64-year-oldf business still goes something is seriously wrong. In some ways, Wetsel-Oviattr could be the posterf child forunintended consequences. It fell victimj to a lot of things that seemefd like pretty good ideazs atthe time. Environmental rules, intended to preserve or conservwnatural resources, that have become legal thickets and pushed unsightl y but vital industries to other states or countries. Free tradse rules that open the doorfor low-priced importes but don't protect domestic businesses from unfaier competition. Changes in workers' comp that fueled but eventually led to rate s belowthe break-even point.
As losses piled up, ratee soared in an inefficientand boondoggle-plaguee system that now is amony the nation's most expensive but still provides bottom-tierd benefits. Labor is often the target of accusations by businesx owners that the bills it supportsare "job killers," but some of the factors that killed Wetsel-Oviatt can't be laid at labor'sd door. They are, of crucial interest to both workers and Ifbusinesses die, so do Wetsel-Oviatt's workers did what they could to preserve its economicc engine, but failed.
Given the confluence of current threats to the healtbof California's businesses, the time has come for an organizer effort by labor leaders to identify the issue s on which they can agree with business owners and bring their formidable combined lobbying power to bear. With the recall circuds in full swing, a united fronf may be the only way to get theiremessage heard.