A year of negotiations between local trade unions and the authority ended this summer without an agreement that union leaders say would assure that workers receive the prevailing wage and other benefits. 

“[The airport authority] has been insistent on allowing contractors to sign to the agreement or not, which obviously defeats the purpose of a community agreement because it’s not an agreement unless everybody signs it,” says Dorsey Hager, secretary-treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council. 

Hager says the unions are concerned that the project will take place without any workplace protections.

“Workers could come from out of state or even local workers who are not working for a signatory contractor could come in," he says. "They could be making below-market standard wages with no benefits and have no grievance procedure to protect themselves.” 

Despite the unions' complaints, Chuck May, project executive for construction-manager-at-risk Hensel Phelps, says his firm and the airport authority will pay the prevailing wage. 

“Hensel Phelps and the authority have voluntarily committed to paying workers labor rates equal to the prevailing wage and fringe benefits, along with an objective to support the local workforce development through the project,” May says. 

He adds that Hensel Phelps has also publicly committed to a 25% Diversity Business Partner goal, which equates to $400 million worth of contracts for small, local, minority, women and veteran-owned firms.

While PLAs require prevailing wages be paid, they also include other worker protections, such as requiring time-and-a-half for overtime pay.

Despite Hensel Phelps' assurances, Hager says having no agreement will adversely impact the project, which will be competing 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 plant near Jeffersonville, Ohio, and Intel, which is constructing two $28-billion chip factories in Licking County, Ohio.  

“I think it will have a definite impact on schedule of the [airport] job and completion,” Hager contends. “Since there is no agreement on the airport, that’s going to just create a breeding ground for organizing and there are going to be union reps and organizers on that job every day and they’re going to be talking to workers and people that aren’t getting paid top wages, not getting paid per diem or bonuses and they’re going to take them from that job and put them to work for signatory contractors at Honda, Intel and other jobs.” 

According to the website of the union-supported Affiliated Construction Trades (ACT) Ohio, public sector labor agreements are not mandatory for an airport project owned and bid out by a regional airport authority such as Columbus Regional, nor do they prohibit non-union contractors from bidding on taxpayer-funded projects. Such a prohibition would violate Ohio’s competitive bid 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 achieving the airport authority’s objectives for the project’s budget, schedule, safety, quality and community development.” 

He notes that “the project teams are actively involved in community outreach to ensure that minorities, women, veterans and other local workforce that are a part of the DBP community are supported and invested in.”

In April, Hensel Phelps held an outreach event that attracted more than 50 small, local, minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses. 

“This intentional approach creates strategic opportunities for a wide variety of companies, making the Columbus region stronger,” Hensel Phelps said in a statement.

The new terminal will be able to handle 13 million passengers a year, which well exceeds the 8.7 million passengers that traveled through John Glenn Columbus and the nearby Rickenbacker International Airport passenger terminal combined in 2023. The new terminal will include a pedestrian bridge, an entry canopy and head house, a marketplace and east and west concourses.