Virginia officials are seething over a recent move by the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority requiring Dulles Rail contractors to operate under a union-friendly labor agreement. The MWAA board’s 11-2 decision last week to mandate a project labor agreement, or PLA, for the second phase of Dulles Rail construction, will not preclude nonunionized contractors from bidding on the multibillion-dollar project. If they win the bid, however, it will require they follow specific wage guidelines, offer union benefits, and hire union workers. The move comes on the heels of the board’s decision to spend $330 million more on the Dulles International Airport train station, against the wishes of state and local officials.
“Basically, this mandates unions,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield.
Of the 13 votes, the two opposed were Virginia appointees. The 11 who voted in favor of greater union control included two from Maryland, three from the District, three presidential appointees and three from Virginia. One of the Virginia voters who favored unions, Dennis Martire, is a vice president of a labor union and an appointee of former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. The board’s attorneys ruled he did not have a conflict of interest, and could cast a ballot.
Only about 4 percent of Virginia’s construction workers are union members, according to Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. — an association of “merit shop,” or nonunion companies. In Maryland and D.C., the percentages are far higher, leading Herrity and his cohorts to worry that the contracts will go to non-Virginia companies.
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York called the decision “very concerning.”
“Already, we’ve heard of at least three contractors not bidding on the project because of the agreement. If you limit the number of bids, that can drive the cost way up,” York said.
Those opposed to PLAs point to studies out of free-market think tank Beacon Hill Institute finding that the agreements can tack an extra 12 to 18 percent to the total cost.
Proponents say PLAs ensure a unified plan for large projects, resulting in on-schedule completions and fewer cost overruns. They point to the PLA used with few complaints for phase one of the Dulles Rail project. In that case, however, it was not mandated by MWAA, but voluntarily adopted by the contractors after winning the bids.
“All this does is establish worker rules and where you get your workers from,” said Martire, vice president of Laborers’ International Union of North America. “They’d rather get a guy off of a bar stool and give him a tool and a lower wage. I don’t know how productive that is.”
Along with the squabble over union control, Virginia officials are upset with MWAA’s monopoly over the commonwealth’s project. The authority — made up of representatives from D.C., Maryland and Virginia — took control of the project in 2006 with the blessing of then-Governor Tim Kaine, even as project funding comes from Virginians and Dulles Toll Road users.
“The real problem is you’ve got D.C. and Maryland people that control the board,” Herrity said. “At best, this is an example of taxation without representation.”
