Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Wednesday pledged to include a “labor peace” agreement when the state next awards a contract to run the concessions operations at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Moore made the public commitment, which has been long sought by labor leaders and many lawmakers and other stakeholders, as the Board of Public Works voted unanimously to extend the contract of the current airport concessionaire on a month-to-month basis. Just last week, Moore ordered the Maryland Aviation Administration to go back to the drawing board in its efforts to award a long-term contract to run retail, food, and other hospitality services at the region’s busiest airport.
Moore on Wednesday said he and the other members of the BPW — Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D) and Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) — were in accord on insisting that the new contract include a provision that would allow airport service workers to unionize and seek collective bargaining rights. And he said that the massive concessions contract would become an integral part of the state’s strategy to improve the airport.
“When you think about the work at the airport, when you think about BWI Marshall, it’s absolutely critical that it be an economic engine for our state and also our region,” Moore said. “And when it comes to the concessions operations at our airport, it’s going to be a key element to the growth and success of the airport, and the growth and success of the airport is a critical part of Maryland’s growth.”
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Josh Kurtz over at Maryland Matters
