ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A group comprised of different labor unions in Northern Virginia stressed their stance against the proposed $2 billion sports and entertainment district in Alexandria after negotiations stalled.
However, there are hopes the conversations will continue despite the latest development.
Virginia Diamond of Northern Virginia AFL-CIO joined other leaders outside the city hall in Alexandria to express concerns about the plan for Monumental Sports & Entertainment to move the Washington Capitals and Wizards next to the Potomac Yard Metro station. The unions already announced pulling out of the labor agreement talks, because they fear the project would be a bad deal for workers.
“This should not be a situation where they create low paying jobs that cheat the community,” Diamond told WUSA9. “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer unless we change the equation here.”
Tim Beaty with the Alexandria Democratic Committee Labor Caucus echoed Diamond's sentiments.
“Here in Alexandria, there is a consensus that workers need to be treated with respect, and unfortunately, the folks making the decision, and the folks with money, have decided they don't care about that,” Beaty said.
Supporters said the project would promise 30,000 jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits if approved by the Virginia General Assembly and Alexandria City Council.
“Our math is worker-focused and workers have to be included in the process and they haven't been included in the process,” said Samuel Epps of Unite Here Local 25.
The conversations between parties ended after roughly seven weeks. The unions said they pushed for specific agreements that would require better pay with benefits, hiring locally from disadvantaged communities, and having minority-owned contractors and small businesses to participate.
Diamond specifically called out developer JBG Smith for also saying no to an agreement that will require workers to unionize if hotels move into privately-owned land.
Representatives from JBG Smith and Monumental Sports were present at Thursday's rally. In response, JBG Smith Chief Strategy Office Evan Regan-Levine told WUSA9, “The consensus has been without the entitlement, design and operator, it's too early to enter an agreement.”
Regan-Levine said no one said "no" to agreements before the unions walked away. He also said the company has a good track record in terms of jobs and protecting against wage thefts, which is why he was surprised by the labor unions’ stance.
“We're disappointed that they've chosen to walk away and put the project and lots of jobs for Northern Virginians at risk as part of that move,” he said.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Vice President of Government Affairs Crispus Gordon also told WUSA9 that they hope to engage in a discussion again.
“We're sitting here at the table,” Gordon said. “We've had a great relationship with labor throughout the few decades and we want to continue to talk right here and have that conversation. I think we're operating in good faith.”
Opponents of the project have been in Richmond on and off for weeks lobbying lawmakers to block the arena funding bill. The Coalition to Stop the Potomac Yard Arena met with the loudest voice against the arena plan, State Senator Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, Wednesday. A cake they gave her reads, “Senator Lucas chomp the Glenn Dome!” The group continued their lobbying efforts Thursday, but admitted that despite all of the protests and letter writing and op eds they’ve done, this still remains very much a David versus Goliath battle.
"I say David versus Goliath because across the country, when billionaire sports owners ... decide to put their resources to work lobbying for money at the public trough for their stadiums, they tend to win," John Breyault with the Coalition to Stop the Potomac Yard Arena said. "And so the record and proposing the nice is not great, but I think this time could be different."
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