Maglev developers ink deal to use union workers for project construction

Contractors seeking to work on a planned 300-mile-per-hour train from Washington, D.C., to New York will have to use union workers under a new agreement. 

The deal was signed by developers of the Northeast Maglev — Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail — and the North America's Building Trades Unions on Wednesday at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.

Under the memorandum of understanding, any contractor or subcontractor who will eventually work on construction of the $10 billion project will be required to use labor unions that fall under North America's Building Trades Unions' umbrella.

The organization has a number of affiliates across the country, such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Laborers’ International Union of North America. There are 28 individual chapters in the greater Baltimore and D.C. regions alone that are represented by the Building Trades Union, according to the organization.

The agreement also will place workers who take part in the Building Trade Unions' many apprenticeship programs directly into jobs working on the maglev after they graduate.

But the new agreement is expected to have an impact far outside of Baltimore. The planned route of the magnetically levitated train is set to stretch from D.C. up to New York, with stops at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport; Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Philadelphia; Newark Liberty International Airport and New York. A proposed map displayed on Wednesday also showed a potential additional extension into Boston.

This map, shown off Wednesdays, shows potential maglev stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Wilmington and New York City.

Officials at the singing of the MOU estimated that 74,000 construction workers would be hired during the construction process, and that 1,500 people would eventually be employed full-time to oversee operations of the train.

Sean McGarvey, the president of North America's Building Trades Unions, said the organization would do everything it could to support the maglev project through the construction and permitting process.

"For us, this is more than a strong signal that this group undertaking this process is committed to sustaining middle-class jobs," he said. "It also shows that they are committed to these communities where this rail line is going to go through."

Once fully operation, Northeast Maglev claims its trains would be able to get passengers from Baltimore to D.C. in 15 minutes, and from D.C. to New York in 45 minutes.

The federal government gave about $28 million in seed funding in 2015 after Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state had applied for funding following a 12-day trade mission to Asia in which he rode on a maglev train. Last year Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. signed a memorandum of cooperation with Hogan providing another $2 million for a feasibility study. 

Jeffrey Hirschberg, the vice chairman of Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail, pledged Wednesday to move as quickly as possible on development of the line.

"We don't want this to take too long," he said. "We're going through the processes with the state and federal government. But, we know it's going to take some time and we know it's going to be difficult."

Currently, Northeast Maglev is in the process of completing an environmental impact on the study, the latest hurdle it needs to clear before advancing.

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Mayor Catherine Pugh speaks at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between unions and the Northeast Maglev on Wednesday.

Mayor Catherine Pugh expressed her support for the project in remarks made prior to the signing of the MOU.

"I believe we can work together to make this happen," she said. "And when it does, it is going to be an economic generator."

Already, the maglev is being touted as a potential reason why Amazon should select Baltimore as the home of its second North American headquarters. Pugh has also used the train as a selling point for the city at numerous press conferences during her time in office.

The maglev could face competition from Elon Musk's hyperloop, which recently began digging a tunnel in Maryland for a line that could potentially connect D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Hirschberg brushed aside the idea that the new agreement with unions was an attempt to one-up the hyperloop.

"They're completely different projects," he said.

Source: Baltimore Business Journal