(BUFFALO) - Buffalo AFL-CIO President Michael Hoffert made good on his word and voted "no" on a taxpayer funding request made by Buffalo Developer Rocco Termini, who is moving forward on a $35 million plan to renovate and restore the downtown Hotel Lafayette.

As a voting member of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA), Hoffert told WNYLaborToday.com today that he directly asked Termini if the Buffalo developer planned to pay Prevailing Wages to construction workers who will be employed on his renovation project.  When Termini replied that he would not because it was "not a requirement," Hoffert made good on his promise and voted "no" on the funding request.

However, Hoffert's "no" vote was the only one cast by the entire ECIDA board, which formally approved the taxpayer-funded request during Monday's meeting.

Hoffert - who heads the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, whose member Unions combine to represent 80,000 workers across Erie County - had told WNYLaborToday.com he would vote against the Termini request if the developer did not commit to paying Prevailing Wages.  Hoffert also took the time to voice his frustration with fellow ECIDA board members who failed to hold Termini to a higher standard, pointing to the "unfairness" aimed at Working Poor taxpayers across Erie County who will ultimately wind up footing the bill.

"When I asked Mr. Termini why he would not pay Prevailing Wages on his project, he answered, 'Because, I don't have to,'" Hoffert told WNYLaborToday.com. this afternoon.  "That's going to be a boutique hotel with forty upscale rooms and I'm sure (Termini) won't be charging a 'forty-nine/ninety-nine (dollar) a night rate on those rooms.  He'll be looking to charge a 'Prevailing Rate' on those rooms.  All I know is that I won't be staying at that hotel. "

"This is the third poorest city in the Nation and you feel for those who are living at or under the poverty level.  These projects eventually pass the costs down to these taxpayers.  Is that fair?  How can the (ECIDA) board members vote the way they did?  That's what upsets me the most," Hoffert said.

Hoffert, meanwhile, raised the issue of potential worker safety at the Hotel Lafayette project, citing "you get what you pay for" in terms of hiring experienced and trained construction workers who receive the necessary safety training so they come home from work safe and sound. 

"It raises concerns with the quality of workers that are hired, as well as worker safety.  I'd hate to see anyone lose their life on the job," the Buffalo AFL-CIO president said.

In 2007, a 24-year-old local construction worker was killed when he fell 30-feet to his death while working at a Termini project at the Webb Building in Downtown Buffalo.  The Federal Occupational and Health Administration fined the worker's employer, a Hamburg construction company, $49,000 for what was described as "extreme" work safety violations.  According to published reports, OSHA found no guardrails or safety nets present at the time of the incident. 

Reportedly, Termini's plan calls for turning the six-story, 367-room hotel into a mixed-use development, anchored by a 40-room boutique hotel, five restaurants, more than 15,000 in commercial space and a banquet facility.  Business First reported in a recent story there were also "concerns the new state budget may include Prevailing Wage Provisions for any project that receives an inducement or incentive package from an IDA.  Without attributing the comment to any individual or source, the Business First story also stated that "such a provision would wipe out any IDA benefit and could add 10 % or more to a project's development cost."