RICHMOND, Virginia – The Virginia Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors – the Commonwealth’s leading trade association for merit shop contractors – applauds the efforts of Governor Youngkin, Monumental Sports and Entertainment, and JBG Smith to bring the Monumental Arena to Potomac Yards in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Arena project will bring as many as 4,000 lucrative jobs to the area and provide an entertainment venue for Virginians and the region to enjoy for decades to come.
ABC Virginia encourages legislators to help deliver this opportunity and support Chairman Torian and Majority Leader Surovell’s Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority and Financing Fund legislation.
Legislators and the public should not be persuaded by misguided demands from construction unions claiming the arena must be built under a controversial and anti-competitive union-only project labor agreement.
In reality, when mandated through political means, PLAs discourage competition from the vast majority of Virginia’s qualified nonunion contractors and their workforce who are not affiliated with unions. More than 94% of Virginia’s construction workforce does not belong to a union, and PLA discrimination is particularly harmful to the region’s nonunion minority and disadvantaged businesses and employees. Likewise, research has found that PLA requirements can subject nonunion workers to wage theft on almost a third of their paychecks by forcing them to pay dues and benefit contributions into union health and welfare plans they receive no benefit from unless they join a union and become vested.
The arena project will deliver quality, high-paying jobs and contracting opportunities for union and nonunion construction workers and companies alike without a controversial PLA requirement. Virginia dollars should be invested in a manner that benefits all and not just the union workforce that represents less than 6% of the Commonwealth’s construction industry.
ABC Virginia encourages legislators to approve this legislation and partner with the team of Monumental Sports and Entertainment and JBG Smith to deliver the benefits of this project to the region.
Learn more about controversial PLAs at www.BuildVALocal.com.