One of the largest labor unions in the U.S. is coming out against a multibillion-dollar plan to build a new sports arena for the Washington Capitals and Wizards in Alexandria, Virginia.
But as a bill that would lay the groundwork for the new arena remains in limbo in the Virginia State Senate, a Republican lawmaker tells WTOP he’s remaining optimistic despite the union’s stance.
The Northern Virginia chapter of the AFL-CIO labor union and its other member unions including UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents hospitality workers in the national capital region, came out in opposition to Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s proposal on Tuesday. Union leaders called the proposed development a “bad deal” for workers and cited concerns that building a new stadium in Potomac Yard could lead to exploitation of workers and create low-paying jobs.
Monumental Sports employs union workers at Capital One Arena in D.C.; those workers’ jobs will transfer, according to the union’s news release.
However, developer JBG Smith and the private owners of the proposed entertainment district do not have any agreements with the unions.
“Taxpayers should not make a massive investment in a project that is only going to create more low-wage jobs for local workers,” said Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO.
Diamond also said that wage theft and exploitation of immigrant workers are “common” on construction sites in Northern Virginia.
“The developers of this entertainment district have refused to take the necessary steps to prevent this,” Diamond said.
Diamond did say there had been more fruitful conversations about a possible memorandum of understanding involving the proposed stadium authority that would issue bonds to help finance the project. But that MOU, also intended to provide job protections, would cover only the publicly owned part of the project and falls far short of the AFL-CIO’s other clear requests, she said.
Monumental Sports and JGB Smith issued a joint statement Tuesday afternoon pushing back on those concerns and saying they’re “disappointed and somewhat perplexed” at the union’s opposition.
“As we have said from the outset, Monumental Sports & Entertainment and JBG SMITH are committed to ensuring the development of a new sports and entertainment district that creates good-paying jobs, including quality union jobs. During near daily negotiations over the course of several months, this development partnership gave labor nearly everything it asked for including strong wages, benefits, and training commitments, as well as efforts to prevent wage theft and misclassification. Our discussions went farther to specifically promote local hiring and opportunity for small, women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses.”
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who’s a strong supported of the stadium plan, responded to Tuesday’s news by saying labor leaders had “backtracked” on negotiations carried out over months in “good faith.” He vowed to press forward with the proposal.
“Virginia is a right-to-work state and unreasonable demands from union leaders will not derail this project. I will continue to work with the General Assembly to complete this opportunity and bring $12 billion in economic contributions that will fund shared priorities in Virginia,” he said in a written statement.
News of the unions’ decision was quickly highlighted by the Coalition to Stop the Arena at Potomac Yard, another group of critics of the proposal, which called on Youngkin and Assembly leaders to call off the deal.
More Wizards, Capitals Arena News
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- Northern Va. small businesses where Monumental wants to build $2B sports complex say these are their top concerns
- Taxpayers could bear the brunt of ‘monumental’ cost of Potomac Yard development
- First look at transportation plans for Potomac Yard entertainment district
Where does the bill stand? Senator on key committee says it’s ‘totally viable’
Republican Virginia Sen. Bryce Reeves said he’s not worried about the labor union’s stance.
“I don’t know that it means a whole lot to those of us who are looking at the deal,” he said. “Contractually, if there needs to be, the owners of those teams can do whatever the heck they want to do.”
He said while there could be negotiations outside of the legislation with organized labor, Republicans wouldn’t be on board with including such an agreement in the bill.
“If this is a deal that the governor wants to happen, Republicans aren’t going to go for it if there’s project labor agreements in there.”
He’s also unsurprised by the AFL-CIO’s opposition to the bill, which he said is similar to other recent instances of organized labor wanting to be involved in legislation, such as the bill to build a casino in Northern Virginia.
However, Democratic leaders from both chambers have made it clear that they want labor’s voices heard in the negotiations over the deal.
“It’s not good,” Sen. Adam Ebbin, a Democrat whose district includes Alexandria and who has not committed to supporting the project, said of Tuesday’s developments.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell — who sponsored his chamber’s version of the bill without fully endorsing the project — said labor’s opposition won’t make it any easier to get the legislation across the finish line. But he stopped short of saying the matter was dead and laid blame with Youngkin for the impasse, saying he’d personally been working to get this piece of the puzzle solved since before the legislative session.
While a bill that would establish a sports and entertainment authority passed the Virginia House of Delegates last week, the legislation has hit a roadblock after landing in the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.
‘Theater and politics’ playing out amid budget talks
Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas, who chairs the committee, will decide where the bill goes from here. She’s spoken out against the stadium deal, including on social media, where she called it the “Glenn dome,” referring to Youngkin’s support for it.
Still, Reeves remains optimistic.
“It’s a very viable project,” Reeves said. “I think part of what is playing out is a little bit of theater and politics.”
Lucas has a couple options. She could send the bill to a subcommittee, take up the legislation within the finance committee, delay action for a year or do nothing, which would kill the bill.
Reeves said the Senate will likely hear the bill, as it typically hears all bills
“Every bill gets its day in court, so to speak,” he said. “We just don’t typically pocket veto bills.”
The legislation comes to the Senate as both chambers work on their respective budgets, which Reeves said could be impacting the rhetoric surrounding the arena deal.
“There’s some things in the Senate budget the House budget doesn’t have,” he said. “The chairman, her prerogative is to try to negotiate with the governor on some things and she’s holding this card.”
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Dick Uliano and Nick Iannelli contributed to this report.
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