Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 4, 1991 TAG: 9103040096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Southwestern Virginia Building and Construction Trades Council has asked the city to adopt the guidelines, which would require successful bidders and subcontractors on publicly funded projects to "show reasonable effort" to hire local workers.
The guidelines also would require contractors on city jobs to provide workers with health insurance, pensions and other benefits.
Representatives from several labor unions have complained to City Council in recent months about contractors using mostly out-of-state workers on large projects, giving the Dominion Tower as an example.
Council has asked City Manager Robert Herbert to meet with representatives of the building and trades organization. Don Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the labor group, told council recently that many construction workers in the Roanoke area are out of work while out-of-state workers have jobs on major projects.
"There are large multimillion-dollar projects under way, while area construction workers find themselves unemployed," he said.
Unless council adopts a policy soon requiring contractors to hire local workers on city projects, Fitzpatrick said he fears local workers won't benefit from the Hotel Roanoke renovation-conference center project.
"This is . . . a fairness issue for the qualified local work force," Fitzgerald said.
Councilman David Bowers said city projects should benefit everyone, including local construction workers.
"The working-class people of the city - the painters, plumbers, carpenters and others - should benefit. Progress shouldn't just benefit the captains of businesses and industries," he said.
Councilman James Harvey agreed. "I think the bottom line is that these folks want a piece of the pie when the city does a major building or remodeling project," he said.
"I'd like to see this council adopt a policy so that the local labor force is used on city projects whenever possible," Harvey said.
There is some question about the legality of such a policy under Virginia's procurement laws. Richmond city officials said they had been advised by their attorneys that state law and court rulings would prohibit any requirement for contractors to hire local workers.
Roanoke City Attorney Wilburn Dibling declined to say whether such a policy would be legal until city officials have met with representatives of the labor group to review the request. William Clark, city public works director, said he is not aware that any locality in Virginia has a similar policy.
The issue of using local companies and workers on projects financed with public funds has arisen in Chattanooga, Tenn., and several cities in nearby states.
But many localities have rejected such a policy because officials think it reduces competition for projects and pushes up costs.
The issue has produced controversy in Chattanooga, where the city has considered but not enacted a local-preference policy.
"It has been brought up and discussed, but so far it has not been adopted," said Joan Henry, Chattanooga's purchasing agent.
"We abide by the guideline that the low bid is the low bid," she said, regardless of where a contractor is located or the source of its workers.
John Wagner, purchasing director for Lexington, Ky., said such policies "were a popular trend among some cities a few years ago, particularly in the Northeast states where unions are strong."
But Wagner said many localities subsequently repealed them because they cost taxpayers more money. "It reduces the number of bidders on projects and eliminates competition.
Last year, the building and trades group complained to the Roanoke council about the selection of a North Carolina contractor to build the Dominion Tower. It questioned how the city could spend millions of dollars in public funds without competitive bidding.
The Dominion Tower is being financed mainly with private funds, but the city is paying about $11 million for parking facilities that are part of the project.
Faison & Associates, the developer, hired the contractor F.N. Thompson of Charlotte, N.C.
Dibling said earlier that the project was exempt from the bid process because the city doesn't have a contract with Thompson or any subcontractors. He said the city will buy the parking facilities from Faison after the project is finished.
Fitzgerald and other union officials have complained that the contractor has brought in mostly out-of-state workers on the project. But Thompson claims it has gotten a bad rap from union officials, noting that many subcontractors have come from Roanoke and nearby areas.
Bill Caldwell, executive vice president of the construction company, said more than 70 percent of the 120 workers on the project come from Roanoke or other parts of Virginia.
One union official estimated last year that up to 85 percent of the workers would come from outside the state, but Caldwell said there is no basis for such a figure.
He said several major subcontractors are from the Roanoke Valley, including those for the electrical work, concrete, form work, concrete finishing, excavation, elevators and millwork. Although many subcontractors are based out of state, some have hired local workers, he said.
"We try to hire as many people locally as we can because it makes good business sense," Caldwell said. Thompson is using out-of-town subcontractors to provide some specialized services not available locally, but it has a policy of trying to hire local subcontractors when they are available, he said.
Tony Skillbeck, a vice president for Faison & Associates, said he does not recall that Faison has ever encountered such a hiring policy in localities where it has built projects. He said it would be hard to speculate on how a policy requiring local construction workers would have affected the negotiations with the city on the Dominion Tower project.
by CNB