Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 1, 1993 TAG: 9308010111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"As far as we know now, we will file an appeal," said Peggy Bland, business agent for Local No. 863 in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Bland's local represents employees at The Greenbrier resort and was the organizing local for The Homestead vote.
Bland said the appeal would be filed from the union's Washington office.
The owner of The Homestead said Saturday he feared the union might still interrupt a sale of the resort by protesting the election.
Dan Ingalls, president of Virginia Hot Springs Inc., said his board met Saturday but couldn't make many decisions involving a purchase offer from a Dallas company.
"The truth is we're still really focused on the election, because it's looking right now like it may still get contested," Ingalls said.
The union has until Friday to file an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board. It can object without the employees' go-ahead.
Club Resorts Inc. of Dallas had said it would not provide the $30 million to $50 million needed to bail out the ailing Homestead if employees voted for collective bargaining.
The vote was 561 to 239 against the union. But the agreement with Club Resorts says the vote must be certified by the NLRB, and a union objection could delay that certification for a long time, said Gregory Robertson, attorney for The Homestead.
Ingalls said the Virginia Hot Springs board got some work done; it began planning what needs to happen for the sale to go forward.
He said negotiations with the resort's lender and completion of a definitive business agreement would probably be done in about two weeks.
He said representatives from Club Resorts and Pinehurst have completed a review of the resort and done a business plan draft. Some portions of that plan were mysteriously distributed among employees last week prior to the union election.
Some workers said it was difficult to tell what effect the information had on the election.
The plan included a list of "capital suggestions" for more than $900,000 worth of improvements and equipment purchases for the food and beverage areas.
"It showed several bold steps need to be taken," Ingalls said.
Since Ingalls announced July 1 that he had an intent-to-purchase agreement with Club Resorts, all sorts of rumors and speculation have rumbled through the resort's work force.
One rumor was that Club Resorts did not want any involvement with the Ingalls Field airport, which the resort subsidizes heavily each year. However, a spokeswoman for Club Resorts said it was "very much" interested in the airport.
Also there have been rumors that Club Resorts might expand golf facilities at the resort, which already has three championship courses.
Ingalls would only say that "no doubt" Club Resorts recognizes the strength of The Homestead's golfing and space amenities.
The original agreement calls for a joint venture between Virginia Hot Springs and Club Resorts to take ownership of the hotel and its amenities on 3,000 acres by September. At some later date, Club Resorts would become the sole owner of the property, which has been controlled by the Ingalls family since the late 1800s.
Ingalls said he thought the original time frame was still possible until he heard the comments Friday night made by Ron Richardson, international vice president of the union.
Richardson said tying the purchase agreement to the election outcome was "collusion" between Ingalls and the Dallas company to scare employees into rejecting collective bargaining.
Richardson said Friday night that he did not know what the union might decide about an appeal, but Bland said it was coming.
"For once we have a good shot at a solution that will work for everybody," Ingalls said. "What's hard on me is to feel that thwarted."
Ingalls said he also was bothered that after having gone through a "democratic process" one side might not be willing to accept the results.
Food service worker Linda May said Saturday she believes employees at The Homestead do not want the union to contest the election.
"The decision has been made and I think everyone would like to get on with business," said May.
"I've been in Bath County all my life and I feel we owe it to ourselves and to people in the community to give this company a try," said May. "If they don't hold up to their promises, then we can vote the union in."
by CNB