LIUNA Laborers Union Protest Taxpayer Advocates in Virginia - Part 3

Part 3 of 3. Loud and unruly "members" of Laborers Union (LIUNA) Local 657 were bused in from Washington, D.C. to shout down U.S. Representative Frank Wolf and other speakers at a press conference today concerning $3.5 billion worth of construction on Phase 2 of the Dulles Metro Rail project in Virginia.

Rep. Wolf called the press conference to object to the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority's recent decision to build an underground metro station at Dulles Airport that will cost Virginia, Fairfax County and Loudoun County taxpayers and Dulles tollway users an additional $330 million and threatens the financing of Phase 2 construction under current funding models and agreements with MWAA and local financial stakeholders.

Rep. Wolf and other speakers also opposed MWAA's union-favoring project labor agreement (PLA) mandate, which will give construction labor unions a virtual monopoly building Phase 2 of the project. The PLA will increase Phase 2 construction costs by an estimated 12 percent to 18 percent, discourage competition from Virginia construction firms, and discriminate against 96 percent of the Virginia construction workforce that chooses not to belong to a union. The anti-competitive special-interest PLA will bust budgets and lead to out-of-state workers (like LIUNA local 657 "members") taking jobs from Virginia construction workers and taxpayers.

MWAA board member Dennis Martire is the Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager of the Laborers' International Union of North American (LiUNA). Martire pushed for the PLA on Phase 2, which will result in his employer, LIUNA, and his members and LIUNA pension plans and other union slush funds receiving a significant financial windfall.

This is corrupt self-dealing that needs to be exposed. The LIUNA members at today's press conference were sent by the very MWAA member --Dennis Martire-- that pushed for this union-favoring scheme on $3.5 billion worth of publicly-funded construction.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• LIUNA
• Laborers Union
• Construction
• Local 657
• Representative Frank Wolf
• Dulles Metro
• MWAA
• Project Labor Agreement
• PLA
• Increased Costs
• Dennis Martire