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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 19, 1992                   TAG: 9203190217
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES and GEORGE KEGLEY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

QUESTION PERSISTS: WHO GETS THE WORK?

Maybe that's why the Charlotte, N.C., developer chosen to refurbish Hotel Roanoke came to the newspaper Wednesday morning to rebut persistent criticism of the work force used on his just-completed Dominion Tower.

The issue: outsiders. Roanoke Valley labor leaders and at least one would-be mayor have charged Faison and his contractors with employing workers from outside the valley, outside Virginia, even outside the country.

The allegations have made their way into the mayor's race. Democrat David Bowers has vowed to use the mayor's power of persuasion to press for local labor and local contractors on future projects - including Hotel Roanoke.

Trouble is, local politicians and governments in a right-to-work state can't say much about who a developer hires. Indeed, the city can't require Tech and Faison to hire local workers for the hotel renovation, City Attorney Wilburn Dibling said.

But Faison, it seems, doesn't want his work force on the Hotel Roanoke to become a political issue. That might explain why Councilman James Harvey, no fan of Bowers and his politics, was "very forceful" in insisting that Faison and his contractors use local labor and local contractors wherever possible.

Harvey's move appears to be an attempt to raise the issue and let Faison settle it before Bowers exploits it in the mayor's race. Organized labor, energized in part by the Dominion Tower flap, last month helped Bowers cement the Democratic Party nomination over Howard Musser, Harvey's ally.

Harvey has "been adamant that we give local people a shot at" work on Hotel Roanoke, Faison said. But he says guaranteeing the use of local help - which Faison will not do - could inflate the project costs 25 percent.

"We're going to make every attempt to let the local contractors do it," he said.

Faison and his partner, Tony Skillbeck, are determined to correct the perception that local talent was ignored on the Dominion Tower project. They said local workers accounted for 75 percent of the work force - a figure disputed by labor leaders.

James Wright, business agent of Local 319 of Carpenters and Millwrights' Union, said, "These guys may have a local address, but how long have they lived here?"

Roanoke Valley labor unions "are fighting for local workers," he said, complaining that Faison's company had "invitational bids. . . . Our contractors did not get a chance to bid."

"In any job, we're going to get criticism from people who didn't get the work," Faison said. "Sometimes that's founded, but very often it's not because they just didn't have a competitive price."

Roanoke-based firms received $8,370,000 in contracts for work on the Dominion Tower, according to documents supplied by Faison. Another $2.4 million was paid to Virginia subcontractors, for a total outlay of $10,770,000 - 54 percent of the project's $20,203,812 in "hard" construction costs.

Faison and Skillbeck said eight Mexican workers - 3 percent of the total work force - were employed at one time on the project. Each carried the proper documentation from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Eight specific services - including reinforcing steel, glass and glazing and polymer services - could not be purchased locally, documents show. Total cost: $6,317,600.

And three services - roofing, tile work and heating and air conditioning - costing $3,116,212 were purchased from subcontractors with which Faison and the general contractor, FN Thompson Co. maintain a special relationship.

Theoretically, Faison could use those relationships in rehabilitating the hotel, but not on the publicly owned conference center. Construction of the $12 million center must be bid according to the state procurement act.

That's an important distinction to Bowers, who thinks the use of local money on a project begets an obligation to local labor.

"I'm glad Jimmy Harvey has been forceful in arguing that we need to have local contractors and local labor involved in this project," Bowers said. Harvey's concern, he continued, is evidence the message sent by Roanoke workers has been heard.

"I would say there's been some concessions by Mr. Faison," Bowers said.

Faison disagreed: "There has been no concession made because none was necessary - as Mr. Bowers well knows."

Staff writer Joel Turner contri to this report.