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

DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993                   TAG: 9308120072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNION REPORTS DEATH THREATS

An official with the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union headquarters in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday he has asked the FBI to investigate death threats allegedly made against him and other union officials by supervisory personnel at The Homestead.

Dan Ingalls, an owner of the resort, said, however, that Ron Richardson is "grandstanding" by bringing in the FBI.

Richardson, union international vice president, said he heard about the threats secondhand and that one was directed against him.

"They didn't come to me. They were told to people at the hotel," he said. "They came between last Thursday and this Monday, and they came from managerial employees, people not covered by bargaining."

The Homestead employees voted 561-239 against union representation on July 30.

Hotel management had said a pending sale of the struggling Hot Springs resort would fall through if employees had favored a union. Richardson filed an appeal on the election with the National Labor Relations Board contending that linking the union vote to the sale was threatening to employees.

The appeal blocks the sale, too, because it means the "no" cannot be confirmed by the NLRB, and Club Resorts Inc., the potential purchaser, won't buy until the vote is confirmed.

Richardson said he will withdraw the appeal if Ingalls and Club Resorts officials in Dallas will guarantee employees job security, base layoffs on seniority or establish an unemployment fund for workers laid off.

"No one will talk to me," Richardson said.

Since the appeal, there have been two employee rallies in support of the sale, but Richardson said the gatherings were encouraged by management.

Ingalls, president of Virginia Hot Springs Inc., which owns the historic Bath County resort, has said the hotel faces bankruptcy if the sale isn't completed.

Ingalls confirmed that Richardson called him Wednesday to say he had asked the FBI to look into the threats.

"Ron calls me up with an FBI agent on the line and I said I'd be happy to cooperate," Ingalls said.

Ingalls said he has discouraged "disrespectful" comments throughout the union campaign and election.

"Naturally, there's been a certain amount of banter and wisecracks that have been made on both sides of the fence following Mr. Richardson's objection to our 2-to-1 victory in the recent election," Ingalls said.

Ingalls also said he was going ahead with preparations for the sale, including working with Club Resorts on a business plan.

The sale calls for the resort to be bought by a joint venture made up of Virginia Hot Springs Inc. and Club Resorts, with Club Resorts later becoming the sole owner of the property.

Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro.

by CNB