Some controversy has been sparked over an out-of-state contractor hired to renovate a Columbus airport terminal, our news partners at WBNS-10 reported.
Columbus unions and workers are pushing back after more than seven months of negotiations with out-of-state contractor Hensel Phelps, regarding a $2 billion terminal renovation of John Glenn Columbus International Airport.
“It’s a $2 billion investment into Columbus, Ohio. It’s thousands of jobs, and there’s a lot at stake,” Sara McEnery-Guice, a member of Laborers’ Local Union 423, said.
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Multiple people expressed their concerns at an airport’s board meeting.
“We want local people building these projects,” Dorsey Hager, executive secretary-treasurer for the Columbus Central Ohio Building and Construction Council, said.
Hensel Phelps wants to have the ability to bring in out-of-state contractors and workers for the project, rather than benefit the trade workers local to the Columbus area and central Ohio, according to Harger. He told WBNS that the company has not been willing to sign a community benefits agreement, which would ensure fair wages and benefits for workers.