Northern Virginia AFL-CIO President Virginia Diamond at right. Credit: AFL-CIO website.
A coalition of labor unions, including the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO and Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, will rally Tuesday morning outside the Fairfax County Government Center to declare their support of a Tysons Entertainment District and Casino.
The newly formed Fairfax County Jobs Coalition sent out a news release on Friday saying the casino and entertainment district would generate more than 5,000 jobs.
“There are union agreements in place that provide a fair process for thousands of workers to decide on permanent union jobs that would dramatically raise living standards for low-income workers in our community,” said Virginia Diamond, president of the NoVA Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Diamond first voiced her union’s support for the casino during testimony before the Feb. 1 Virginia Senate Subcommittee on Resources.
Tuesday’s rally is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., an hour before the start of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Virginia Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) said he intends to reintroduce his casino referendum legislation after the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee voted in February to hold it over for the 2025 legislative session. If passed, Marsden’s bill would give the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authority to put a referendum on a ballot so voters could decide whether a casino would be built somewhere on the Metro’s Silver Line outside the Capital Beltway.
One of the reasons Marsden gave for building an entertainment district anchored by a casino would be to create 5,000 union jobs. He and other supporters, including Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Alexandria), promoted a casino as a new revenue stream for Fairfax County, which relies too heavily on the real estate tax to fund county programs.
“The developer has agreed to a project labor agreement for the entertainment district and casino,” said Greg Akerman, president of the area Building Trades unions. “A PLA will guarantee that workers are paid family-sustaining wages and Fairfax County residents have the chance to get on-the-job training opportunities through apprenticeship programs.”
Comstock Holding Companies was seeking to build a casino somewhere on the Silver Line in Fairfax County. Comstock Holdings, its employees, entities and allies have donated more than $1.2 million to the campaigns committees of members of the Virginia Legislature in an effort to advance their casino plans.
“This is an important opportunity to bring in more commercial tax revenue for schools and other county services, which is sorely needed,” said David Walrod, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers.
In addition to a casino, the entertainment district would include a high-end hotel with gaming floor, convention center, concert venue, restaurants, retail, and workforce housing. The entire development would take up 4 million square feet, with the casino only encompassing 200,000 square feet.
During a hearing of the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technologys on Jan. 24, several people spoke in favor of Marsden’s bill, including Julie Coons, president of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and Benita Thompson-Byas, the vice chairman of the Thompson Hospitality Corporation.
“The creation of a mixed-use, transit-oriented complex that would include not only a casino, but a state-of-the-art conference facility and performing arts venue is estimated to contribute an additional $2 billion to the region and would bring thousands of new jobs to Fairfax County,” Coons told the subcommittee members.
Thompson Hospitality was a minority partner in the casino project, according to Thompson-Byas. The company manages several regional restaurant chains, including Big Buns, matchbox, and Milk & Honey.
