RICHMOND — In a rare victory for organized labor in Virginia, the state Senate on Tuesday struck down an measure that would have prevented officials building the Dulles Metro rail project from signing onto a labor agreement that favors the use of union labor on the $6 billion project.
The House already passed a bill that promised to withhold $150 million in state funding for phase two of the rail project if officials insisted on using union labor.
But the Senate killed the measure Tuesday on a razor-thin 19-20 vote with one Republican abstaining. Opponents of the bill said restricting the labor agreements would endanger the Dulles rail project.
“What this bill is, make no mistake, is a poison pill,” said Senator Janet Howell, D-Reston. “It will put in jeopardy the most important project in Northern Virginia.”
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority has indicated it would like to enter into a project labor agreement prior to the start of the second phase of the Dulles Metro project. That irked Republican lawmakers, who proudly flaunt the commonwealth’s right-to-work laws.
But MWAA now has the authority to negotiate a contract and working conditions with unions before beginning the $2.8 billion-second phase.
