
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990                   TAG: 9006070092
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: By PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STUDY: REGION'S LABOR RAP UNFAIR

Businesses other than mining in Southwest Virginia's coal counties should not be seen as part of a negative labor environment, according to a report from Virginia Tech's Economic Development Assistance Center.

News from the region was dominated by the United Mine Workers' 10 1/2-month strike against Pittston Coal, which ended in February but, the report says, heavy union organizing had not spread to other businesses in the years before the strike.

"Industrial growth and diversification efforts have stagnated as businesses, contemplating expansion or relocation, perceive Southwest Virginia's coal counties as an `unfavorable' labor environment," the report states.

The labor environment study of Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Scott, Russell, Tazewell and Wise counties from 1973 to 1988 was made by Jason S. Altman, a research associate at the Tech center, and Michael Hensley, center director.

They found that "only six work stoppages, each with limited impact, have occurred at the region's non-mining businesses during the 15-year period covered by this study."

No work stoppages were reported in any industrial sector, including mining, from 1982 to 1988.

The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, examined employment patterns, work stoppage participation trends, comparisons of work stoppage participation between regions, and influence by organized labor and the coal industry.

The report is available by writing the Economic Development Assistance Center, 404 Clay St., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., 24061 (telephone 231-5278).

by CNB