Prince William board approves project labor agreement pilot for division's 14th high school

The Prince William County School Board approved Wednesday night a resolution directing the superintendent to implement a pilot project labor agreement requirement for any public works contract awarded for construction of the 14th high school.

The division's 14th high school was originally planned to open in 2026 but was delayed to the 2029-30 school year due to slowing enrollment trends.

While several Northern Virginia county governments have implemented project labor agreements, no school division in Virginia has done so, making Prince William County Public Schools the first.

Project labor agreements are collective bargaining agreements between building trade unions and contractors. They govern terms and conditions of employment for all craft workers – union and non-union – on a construction project.

“A project labor agreement here will offer a number of things, and I think we should be clear on what these are: It’s a pre-hire agreement negotiated before work begins on a project that sets the stage for how we’re going to move forward with the project,” School Board Chair Dr. Babur Lateef said.

The agreement can have incentives built into it to include women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, local businesses or minority-owned businesses, Lateef said.

“We currently have no safety valve or a regulation that ensures local businesses in the county get current bids on current contracts,” Lateef said.

"Moreover, project completions are typically higher when done through a project labor agreement," Lateef added, and it “guarantees” a skilled workforce, reduced labor disputes and improved worker safety.

The resolution ultimately passed in a 6-2 vote, with Brentsville School Board Member Erica Tredinnick and Gainesville School Board Member Jennifer Wall casting the two dissenting votes.

Potomac District School Board Member Justin Wilk gave a full-throated defense of the agreement.

“I grew up in the blue collar state of Michigan. There is no secret about my love and affinity for the working class and our laborers,” Wilk said, adding his dad was UAW member for 39 years at Ford Motor Company. “I look at tonight as simply fighting for our working class and our communities in Prince William County.”

Implementing a project labor agreement for construction of the 14th high school will ensure good jobs, fair wages and greater opportunities for local workers and families, Wilk said.

“PLAs ensure workers receive fair wages, benefits and protections they deserve," he added. "They promote local training – keyword local – so parents in our community, people we see at the grocery store ... they can work close to home, putting food on the table."

He said the agreement can create apprenticeship opportunities for students pursuing career and technical education, an area the school division has been trying to grow.

Tredinnick said she cares about blue collar workers just as Wilk does, but she could not support the proposed agreement.

“I also think that career technical education does not have to equal a union," Tredinnick said. "I think we have plenty of kiddos that come out of our school system that go and work for small businesses and things that are not involved in a union."

Wall urged fellow board members to vote against the proposal, saying the school system has a fixed pot of money and spending money on labor costs means less money focused on the classrooms and educating.

“I don’t like that no school division has done this," Wall said. "I’m not thrilled to be first, especially based on the cautionary tale that is collective bargaining and how stellarly/not stellarly that has gone."

Ultimately, the majority of the board supported the resolution, with Woodbridge District School Board member Loree Williams describing it as potentially a “win-win” for all parties.

“I think this could be a win-win for all of us, but it is also an educational opportunity, and I would like for us to to really be informed as this process goes along,” Williams said.