Virginia officials weighing funding solutions for Dulles Rail remain firmly opposed to a mandatory union-friendly labor agreement, even as it threatens their relationship with cash-bearing federal authorities. The labor agreement would require the primary contractor for the second phase of Dulles Rail construction to use union employees or pay union wages and benefits to nonunion employees. It was put forward by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, responsible for overseeing the project. Contractors chose a similar agreement voluntarily for the first phase of construction, which has come in on time and under budget.
Virginia officials objected on the grounds that the commonwealth is a right-to-work state, meaning union membership cannot be mandated. The issue is one among many that must be resolved on the way to building and paying for the multibillion-dollar rail project.
A broad solution to the impasse proposed recently by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood included low-interest federal loans as a multimillion-dollar incentive to help entice Fairfax and Loudoun counties to sign on to the second phase of the project, despite increasing costs.
Conspicuously absent from the LaHood proposal, however, was mention of the labor agreement. At a Fairfax County board meeting on Tuesday, supervisors voiced their disapproval of mandatory union labor to LaHood’s administrator, Peter Rogoff.
Rogoff said that the Obama administration “is supportive of the [labor agreement]” and that it would ensure an on-time project without adding to costs.
But just because LaHood holds the key to much-needed federal loans for the project doesn’t mean that it’s a done deal, said Northern Virginia officials.
“This is a right-to-work state, so we can’t mandate that organizations only hire union workers — we just can’t do that,” said Fairfax Chairwoman Sharon Bulova.
Bulova said more clarity is needed as to how the airports authority would structure the labor agreement before knowing if it would comply with state laws.
Eileen Curtis, president and chief executive officer of the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, said that backing down to the airports authority is not an option.
The labor agreement “probably wouldn’t drive up the cost of the project,” she said. “But the problem is whether it’s mandated, or if the general contractor can make his own decision about how best to bring the project home. That’s his right to do.”
