When D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced the Washington Commanders’ return to RFK campus, she described it as part of a larger effort to replace the tens of thousands of federal government jobs eliminated by the second Trump administration.
However, as local union organizer Paul Schwalb explained, it remains to be seen how, or whether, the District’s proposed $1 billion investment will yield high-wage jobs with benefits for those working in the hotels, restaurants and other areas of commerce throughout the 180 acres of public land.
“They have made no commitment [at] this point to create good jobs there,” said Schwalb, executive secretary treasurer of UNITE HERE Local 25, which represents more than 7,500 non-managerial hospitality workers in the D.C. metropolitan area. “The kind of jobs we’d like to see…are union jobs, either in the concessions, in the parking lot, in the hotels, or in the restaurants. Until we have those commitments, we’re going to be opposing the project.”
Last summer, after months of negotiations with more than 20 hotels and restaurants, members of UNITE HERE Local 25 approved a four-year contract. Provisions include: a more-than-25% wage increase over four years, medical, vision, and dental coverage for workers and their families, an expanded pension package, no combination of job duties, and the guarantee of a positive work environment.
With development on RFK campus tentatively scheduled for later this year, members of UNITE HERE Local 25 and other unions are engaging in conversation with D.C. Council members and Commanders officials about the yet-to-be-solidified community benefits agreement.
As outlined in legislation that Bowser introduced, that community benefits agreement would need to be created in consultation with residents, labor groups and other stakeholders. Schwalb said that creates plenty of opportunity for workers to make their voices heard. UNITE HERE Local 25 members have started doing so, specifically at a town hall that D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) organized.
That’s where, he said, members made clear their intentions this budget season.
“We believe that the developer, the team here— the Commanders— given the amount of money that the city is investing, should produce jobs that have a living wage, that provide health care for workers and their families, and provide a path to retirement,” Schwalb told The Informer. “We think that there are parts of this development that actually could be great for workers in D.C. and great for the economy in D.C., but… I don’t think that the city should be investing in developments where the likely outcome is poverty-level jobs.”
The Washington Commanders didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
D.C. Council Works to Finalize RFK Stadium Deal While Focusing on 2026 Budget, Ward 8 Candidates Weigh In
D.C. Councilmember Wendell Felder (D-Ward 7) told The Informer that his office has examined community benefits agreements for other stadiums. He also mentioned ongoing engagement with the Ward 7 residents via surveys, listening sessions, and outreach to Ward 7 advisory neighborhood commissions for the creation of a resolution.
These efforts, Felder said, will culminate in a package he will present to his council colleagues during the budget deliberation process.
“What we’ve heard to date were funds to support educational programs, youth programs, businesses to support small and local businesses, more jobs dedicated to Ward 7 neighbors,” Felder said. “We’re going to try to support the desires of as many neighbors as possible. We think [with] a project [of] this magnitude, there’s a lot of room for additional community benefits.”
As it relates to employment, Felder said he has his eyes on the economic well-being of his constituents.
“As we continue negotiations with the Commanders, as well as the community, I’ve expressed the desire to make sure that we have as many jobs as possible,” Felder told The Informer. “Short-term and permanent jobs on the site for Ward 7 neighbors.”
The D.C. Council is scheduled to finalize the RFK stadium deal — and other aspects of the Fiscal Year 2025 supplemental and Fiscal Year 2026 budgets and the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Act — by late July, which is well after when council members usually break for summer recess. The community benefits agreement process will likely bear similarity to what transpired in deliberations between the D.C. Council, Monumental Sports, and developers during the latter part of last year.
This summer marks another milestone— the election of Ward 8’s newest council member. Whoever takes on that role will likely be able to weigh in on the future of RFK campus, particularly as it relates to jobs.
On Monday night, three of the four Ward 8 D.C. Council special election candidates— Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chairman Salim Adofo (8C), Mike Austin, and Sheila Bunn— explored this topic while attending a candidate forum at Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast.
Austin, a proponent of economic development, ushered the call for well-paying, skills-based jobs.
“I’m not just talking about low-wage concession jobs, I’m not just talking about parking lot jobs. I’m talking about real jobs, transformational jobs,” Austin told an audience of more than 100 Ward 8 residents who attended the forum, moderated by Tom Sherwood of WAMU 88.5. “Ward 8 has to benefit. Ward 7 has to benefit. We have to use local CBEs. We have to make sure they’re putting aside jobs and CBE preferences for Ward 7 and 8 businesses.”
Bunn and Adofo responded similarly, with Bunn stressing that Ward 8 residents should benefit from a community benefits agreement as much as Ward 7 residents — not only when it comes to jobs.
“I support a mixed-use development that includes a stadium, meaning the priority should be on building housing, retail, and creating jobs,” Bunn told the audience of Ward 8 residents on Monday night. “Not just for Ward 7 residents, but for Ward 8 residents, making sure that we have opportunities for our businesses to be at that development as well and to profit and to benefit from that development.”
At a time when public safety counts among Ward 8 residents’ greatest concerns, Adofo said that the long-term impact of the RFK campus deal lies in the number of Ward 8 youth that can be trained and provided employment opportunities.
“We need to have the students that come out of the University of District of Columbia’s workforce development program be a part of that,” Adofo said in response to Sherwood on Monday night. “The students who do the project management [to] be a part of that. This is an opportunity for us to have a new grocery store east of the river. The recreation that we need, if we’re talking about public safety in our neighborhoods and having a place for these children to go, this is it right here.”
Hours before the Ward 8 D.C. Council candidate forum, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he wanted a better stadium deal, pointing out to reporters that, despite the Commanders’ $2.7 million investment for stadium construction, the District will spend an amount much higher than the $850 million originally announced.
“Not included in those figures are, for instance, the cost, which would be tens of millions of dollars for either a metro station expansion or a new metro station,” Mendelson told reporters during a June 2 press conference. “Also, not including those costs of the debt service, which is what we borrowed from this. In addition, there are uncalculated benefits to the team [like] foregone taxes, free land, and the profit return for development of the two non-stadium parcels.”
Mendelson then noted that the Executive Office of the Mayor hasn’t acquiesced to his request for documentation detailing the revenue projections for RFK campus. In the interim, the D.C. Council Office of the Budget Director is conducting an economic impact analysis that’s scheduled to be completed within the next couple of weeks.
As for a community benefits agreement, Mendelson said that discussion will be “in the mix” of budget season deliberations starting nearly two months later than originally scheduled. Given what he described as a late submission of the budget, Mendelson said the council has some work ahead of itself to fully assess Bowser’s proposal and how to best shape a community benefits agreement.
“I am seeking to bring on board a consultant to help the council with regards to the RFK proposal to fully understand not only what the proposal is, what’s lacking in the proposal, and how it compares with other cities,” Mendelson said. “What the total rate costs are, both in direct subsidy as well as benefits, which would not be a subsidy with benefits in between.”
While clarity around RFK is critical for Mendelson, the council is also prioritizing other pressing budget conversations.
“I have indicated to the Commanders that I am anxious to carry through with discussions with them as quickly as possible,” Mendelson continued, “which is difficult because we’re dealing full-time with the budget.”
Without Provisions Could Come Possible Challenges for District Residents
In decades past, community groups have coalesced around demands for employment, education, and extracurricular activities in and around major capital projects located in historically underserved neighborhoods.
By 2009, the District had accumulated $23.4 million in a community benefit fund established five years earlier when the D.C. Council approved the construction of Nationals Park. By that time, advocates were still seeking answers about why those funds hadn’t been allocated toward the Housing Production Trust Fund, Home Purchase Assistance Program, and other programs intended to help those facing housing insecurity.
Five years later, in 2014, the Near Southeast/Southwest Community Benefits Coordinating Council negotiated on behalf of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D residents during construction of what’s now known as Audi Field. Members of the coordinating council demanded: 30 years of education and recreational programming for neighborhood youth; preservation and maintenance of public housing; the funding of a Southwest Small Business Incubator; and guaranteed employment opportunities for D.C. residents, specifically those living in Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D.
As outlined in a response compiled by then-City Administrator Allen Y. Lew, the District declined most of those demands, citing already existing programs serving all D.C. residents or budget timeline constraints. More than decade later, the areas around Nationals Park and Audi Field have experienced a demographic shift, with the African American population dwindling while younger, mostly white transients set up roots.
The Informer unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Frederica “Rikki” Kramer (Single-Member District 6D07), a member of the Near Southeast/Southwest Community Benefits Coordinating Council.
Union organizer Samuel Epps told The Informer that the RFK campus development deal, what he described as larger than Audi Field or Nationals Park, could potentially produce well-paying jobs, but only if District officials and the Commanders finalize an agreement of benefit to workers.
However, Epps said neither party has moved the dial.
“There have been some initial conversations,” Epps, president of Washington Metropolitan Council AFL-CIO, told The Informer. “But nothing agreed upon on paper.”
In his role, Epps organizes more than 150 affiliate unions representing more than 150 employees in the D.C. metropolitan area representing a bevy of industries, including electricians, plumbers, and public sector workers. He said that, at this point, he and other union members are gearing up to participate in budget hearings and make the case for a community benefits agreement that guarantees high wages and benefits for workers.
“In the current iteration of this agreement, there are no labor standards or agreements on the jobs here,” Epps said. “Nothing about who will be hired within the community, what industries will be able to access and have good jobs.”
Without those provisions clearly outlined, Epps predicted a situation much like what many working-class District residents are currently facing.
“It would create low wage jobs for District residents,” Epps said, “where individuals and residents in the city can’t afford many of the other things to live in D.C. and they’ll end up having to work one or two jobs.”