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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992                   TAG: 9201090636
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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HIRE LOCALLY; PAY BETTER, TOO

LOCAL contractors and local labor are welcome changes brought about through the efforts of the Roanoke United Central Labor Council and the Southwest Virginia Building & Construction Trades Council. Credit is not always given to the few who speak out publicly.

But let's carry the concept of local labor a step further. What if these local non-union firms paid livable wages and offered their employees hospital, health and pension benefits?

Only then would the burden of subsidizing lower-paid workers' health and welfare costs be shifted from the backs of taxpayers to the owners of local companies who pay substandard wages and keep most of the profit for themselves. GERALD W. MEADOWS President, Roanoke United Central Labor Council ROANOKE

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