Arlington unions and state representatives are doubling down on calls for more labor protections in the construction of the new Arlington Career Center.
A $132 million construction contract is up for consideration at an Arlington School Board meeting on Thursday. At least a year of delays would likely result if the School Board seeks a prevailing wage agreement for the project, guaranteeing that workers get paid wages comparable to market rates, Arlington Public Schools staff said at a meeting last month.
But local Dels. Patrick Hope (D) and Adele McClure (D) joined representatives from the the NoVa Labor Federation, the Arlington Education Association and the NAACP Arlington Branch at a Monday press conference in arguing that this is the only ethical path forward.
Speaking outside the current Career Center at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive, Hope said the project’s role in teaching trade skills makes such an agreement especially important.
Without one, he warned, “This will always be something that will be an embarrassment, because we know that it was built without worker protections in mind. It’s not too late to do the right thing.”
Michael Hemminger, president of the Arlington NAACP, raised particular concerns about “a long series of allegations of unsafe working conditions” around the prospective APS contractor, Whiting-Turner. In May, the Baltimore-based company settled a racial harassment and retaliation lawsuit for $1.2 million.
“We know our school system says they are valuing the equity of those students, but we say they need to value the equity of those parents and those community members as well,” he said. “We say we cannot build a school, we cannot build a project that does not have these worker protections.”
NoVA Labor Federation President Virginia Diamond reiterated fears that the contractor — which offered the lowest of four bids ranging up to $140 million — could fail to protect workers from practices like wage theft.
“This is sending a terrible message to the students of the Career Center,” she said. “The mission of the Career Center is to support and train students who wish to enter the skilled trades. By adopting an exploitative model for building the center, the School Board is telling these students that this work does not have dignity.”
Speaking in favor of the representatives and unions’ demands were Arlington County Board candidates Tenley Peterson and JD Spain. No School Board candidates spoke at the press conference.
The reason the construction project does not include a prevailing wage agreement, APS previously told ARLnow, is that the School Board never passed a resolution requiring one. Introducing one now would likely involve turning down the Whiting-Turner contract, approving a resolution and redoing the bidding process.
School Board member Mary Kadera said on April 25 that she wishes the Board had acted on labor protections before requesting bids for Career Center construction.
“We foresaw this coming, we could’ve acted sooner, and we’re in an awkward spot now,” she said.
In addition to the construction contract, the School Board is scheduled to vote Friday on a new name for the Career Center. “The Pike Campus” is a naming committee’s top pick, while a secondary recommendation is “Grace Hopper Campus,” after the Navy admiral and noted computer scientist who lived in Arlington, according to APS documents.