Prince George's County leaders want to ensure labor unions are involved in Sphere project

The Sphere National Harbor project isn’t dead, but negotiations to make it a reality in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are in danger of rolling off the table as it approaches the final few days. On Tuesday, the council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee voted to send two bills covering the funding for the project to the full council, but without a recommendation, amid behind-the-scenes disagreement over how the work to build and operate the venue will be contracted out. The meeting was supposed to start at 9 a.m., filled with union members, but it did not start until after 3 p.m., and the meeting and votes took only about five minutes.

The council added a special session to its calendar on Monday in order to continue negotiations and take up amendments to the current legislative framework. That has to happen to ensure a final vote by the Oct. 27 council meeting, which is the last one before Election Day where a new council will be seated.

“We’ve been looking at the local hiring, wanting to make sure that that’s — we really do prioritize and require at an amount the local hiring, going through the MBE goals to make sure that the requirements are high,” Council Chair Krystal Oriadha said. She said the council, which has to approve the funding mechanisms, has only been recently included in the negotiations. “We were brought to the table within the last few weeks; we’ve been very transparent about that, and so we’re trying to digest the information as fast as possible,” Oriadha said.

Labor leaders were there throughout the day, many of them waiting to see how things would play out, amid frustration that Sphere won’t negotiate a project labor agreement with them. Metro Building Trades Council, said. “Sphere has worked in union-dense areas like New York and Las Vegas, and they’ve partnered with other local labor unions.

It’s just why we’re so baffled that they’re not doing that here.” Oriadha, a staunch supporter of labor who even recently insisted that any funding from the county include a project labor agreement, seemed to suggest the final deal may not include that… Prince George’s advances Sphere financing legislation as council members seek workforce clarity and Braveboy touts local business commitments.