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Construction of a $2 billion terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, is scheduled to begin in early 2025 without a project labor agreement between the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and local unions on wages and benefits for workers.
The new terminal will replace the existing one that was built in 1958. It will be built in what is currently a parking lot, south of International Gateway, the main entrance to the airport from Interstate 670.
A year of negotiations between local unions and the authority ended this summer without an agreement that union leaders say would ensure workers receive prevailing wages and other benefits.
“[The airport authority] has insisted on allowing contractors to sign the agreement or not, which obviously defeats the purpose of a community agreement because it’s not an agreement unless everyone signs it,” says Columbus Secretary-Treasurer Dorsey Hager/ Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council.
Hager says unions are concerned the project will go ahead without any job protections.
“Workers could come in from out of state or even local workers who don’t work for a signatory contractor could come in,” he says. “They could be making below-market wages with no benefits and no claims procedure to protect themselves.”
Despite union complaints, Chuck May, project executive for at-risk construction manager Hensel Phelps, says his company and the airport authority will pay the prevailing wage.
“Hensel Phelps and the authority have voluntarily committed to pay workers labor rates equal to prevailing wages and fringe benefits, along with the aim of supporting local workforce development through the project,” says May .
He adds that Hensel Phelps has also publicly committed to a 25% Diversity Business Partner goal, which equates to $400 million in contracts for small, local, minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.
While PLAs require prevailing wages to be paid, they also include other worker protections, such as requiring time and a half to pay overtime.
Despite assurances from Hensel Phelps, Hager says not having a deal will negatively affect the project, which will compete for workers with other large projects in the area that have PLAs such as Honda and LG Energy Solutions, which is building a 4.4 billion EV battery dollars plant near Jeffersonville, Ohio, and Intel, which is building two $28 billion chip factories in Licking County, Ohio.
“I think it will have a definite impact on the calendar of the [airport] work and completion,” says Hager. “Because there’s no deal on the airport, that’s just going to create a breeding ground for organizing and there’s going to be union representatives and organizers on the job every day and they’re going to talk to the workers and the people who are” They’re not going to get the higher wages, they’re not going to get the per diems or bonuses, and they’re going to take them out of that job and put them to work for Honda, Intel and other signatory contractors.”
According to the union’s website, Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio, public sector labor agreements are are not required for an airport project owned by a regional airport authority, such as Columbus Regional, and bid by a regional airport authority, nor do they prohibit non-union contractors from bidding on taxpayer-funded projects. Such a ban would violate Ohio’s competitive bidding laws.
May says Hensel Phelps is proud to be part of this “transformational” project, which is scheduled for completion in 2029, and is “dedicated to meeting the airport authority’s objectives in terms of budget, schedule, safety, quality and community development of the project”.
He notes that “project teams are actively involved in community outreach to ensure that minorities, women, veterans and other local workforces who are part of the DBP community are supported and invested in.”
In April, Hensel Phelps held an outreach event that attracted more than 50 local, minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned small businesses.
“This intentional approach creates strategic opportunities for a wide variety of businesses, making the Columbus region stronger,” Hensel Phelps said in a statement.
The new terminal will be able to handle 13 million passengers a year, far exceeding the 8.7 million passengers who traveled through John Glenn Columbus and the upcoming passenger terminal at Rickenbacker International Airport combined in 2023 .
The new terminal will include a pedestrian bridge, an entrance canopy and a main house, market and east and west concourses. The pedestrian bridge will connect the terminal with the car rental and parking lot. The marquee will run along the north facade of the terminal and will extend over four traffic lanes. It will feature a 74-foot cantilevered structure with an exposed taillight that extends into the main house. The east and west concourses will house secondary retail and concession spaces, and will have lounges in addition to the boarding gates.
Under Ohio law, the new terminal project also does not meet the definition of public improvement that would require a PLA. Ohio law defines such improvements as a highway, bridge, highway, street, or tunnel; a sewage treatment system or water supply system; a solid waste disposal facility or a stormwater and sanitary water collection, storage and treatment facility; or any structure or work constructed by a state agency or by another person on behalf of a state agency pursuant to a contract with the state agency. The regional airport authority is a municipal agency that manages and regulates only central Ohio airports.
