The contractor employed to finish Maryland’s Purple Line building has reached an settlement with a serious labor union, ending months of negotiations over assured wages and advantages, venture officers stated.
Maryland
Labor agreement reached on Maryland’s Purple Line construction
![Labor agreement reached on Maryland’s Purple Line construction Labor agreement reached on Maryland’s Purple Line construction](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/FETFDNG4PMI6ZPBVVEOQVFESHM.jpg&w=1440)
Main work on the 16-mile rail line resumed this month. With the brand new labor settlement in place, extra will resume after Labor Day and “ought to actually begin to take off” in October, stated Steve Lanning, Native 11 enterprise supervisor for Laborers’ Worldwide Union of North America (LIUNA).
Greater than 50 building staff protested the venture in Might, saying the brand new contractor had backed off a dedication to offer agreed-upon wages and advantages.
Mission officers stated the deal, often called a “venture labor settlement,” will guarantee a gentle provide of staff throughout a nationwide labor scarcity and maintain building on schedule.
The wages and advantages are “honest and aggressive,” stated John Undeland, spokesman for Purple Line Transit Companions, the personal consortium managing the venture.
“It ensures there will probably be a ample provide of laborers to get the work completed,” he stated.
The settlement was signed Aug. 16 between LIUNA’s Native 11 and the consortium’s new contractor, a three way partnership led by the U.S. subsidiaries of Spanish corporations Dragados and OHL. The state is just not a celebration to it.
Undeland stated the contractor is working to achieve related agreements with unions for carpenters, machine operators and steelworkers.
Lanning stated the settlement units an hourly wage of $27.81 for less-skilled laborers and $28.50 to $31.87 for pipe layers and tunnel staff. As well as, they are going to obtain medical insurance, pension plan contributions and annual wage will increase, he stated.
In alternate, the union has promised it should comply with a grievance course of, reasonably than go on strike, if labor disputes come up.
Lanning stated the settlement’s “very engaging” wages and advantages will entice the most effective staff and “ensure it’s completed on time and on price range.”
Mission labor agreements have been controversial. Supporters say they shield staff and forestall delays. Critics say they exacerbate labor shortages, improve building prices and harm nonunion firms and staff.
David Abrams, the state’s Purple Line venture spokesman, stated “main building work” is underway alongside the complete alignment. It features a new rail bridge over Rock Creek Park, an elevator shaft in downtown Bethesda and a storm water drainage system on the New Carrollton Metro station.
The Purple Line is being managed as one of many first public-private partnerships for a U.S. transit venture and, when accomplished, will present the primary direct suburb-to-suburb rail service within the Washington area.
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Maryland
Maryland Native Wins $85,000 on ‘Name That Tune’ – The MoCo Show
![Maryland Native Wins ,000 on ‘Name That Tune’ – The MoCo Show Maryland Native Wins ,000 on ‘Name That Tune’ – The MoCo Show](https://s44899.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_1702.jpeg)
Entertainment
Proud Montgomery County, MD resident Gavriella Kaufmann (Potomac) won her episode of FOX’s game show “Name that Tune”, which aired last week.
Kaufmann, who was born and raised in Potomac and graduated from Churchill High School in 2015, stated in an interview with FOX 5, that she has always been into music and referred to herself as a music and game show savant. When she saw an ad on LinkedIn about being on season 4 of the game show, she immediately knew she had to do it.
“I’ve loved game shows for as long as I can remember, and music has always been a huge part of my life. Being on Name That Tune was the perfect combination of both passions—it was like a dream come true.” Kaufmann told us.
The episode had a happy ending, with Kaufmann winning a whopping $85,000! She added, “When I was on Name That Tune, I was so focused on doing my best and naming as many songs as possible that I completely lost track of the score. It wasn’t until Jane, the host, told me my total. I was in complete shock, but it was such an incredible moment!”
Maryland
Michigan State football opens as sizable underdog vs Maryland
![Michigan State football opens as sizable underdog vs Maryland Michigan State football opens as sizable underdog vs Maryland](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4256,h_2394,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/137/01j6q8yb7r3y04b36mbn.jpg)
Who’s ready for Big Ten play to begin? In all honesty, I am not. I really wish Michigan State football had more tune-up games after seeing them struggle against Florida Atlantic and only win 16-10. But unfortunately, that is not how the schedule unfolds for Michigan State this season.
The Spartans will hit the road for an early Big Ten game as they face Maryland on Saturday at 3:30 pm. Going into the season I thought Michigan State and the Terps were on a pretty level playing field, but after seeing both teams play week one that doesn’t appear to be the case.
And Vegas agrees.
Michigan State opens as a 7.5-point underdog next week at Maryland. My guess is that grows to 8, 8.5.
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) September 1, 2024
As you all know, Michigan State only beat Florida Atlantic by six and did not look very impressive, especially on the offensive side of the ball. So it’s no surprise that MSU will be the underdog next week. But 7.5 points feels like a lot, and according to the Lansing State Journal’s Graham Couch, it likely will only go up from there.
So does Vegas have it right or are they underrating Michigan State?
Looking at Maryland’s week one game against UConn it appears Vegas has this line right. The Terps were up 23-0 at halftime and never looked back and went on to win in dominant fashion 50-7. UConn and FAU are very similar in terms of what level they’re at in college football, so that drastic of a difference in the final score is very scary.
So Vegas probably could’ve gotten away with Maryland being even bigger favorites in this one.
But maybe Vegas saw what I did and thinks a lot of Michigan State’s mistakes on Friday are easy to fix. Maybe they think Aidan Chiles will be much better next week. The Spartan’s defense was also fairly dominant so there isn’t much of a chance Maryland scores 50 points next week either.
I tend to not bet on Michigan State games, but even if I did this would be a line that I would avoid because who knows how much Jonathan Smith’s squad will improve by next week, and who knows how much Maryland might struggle against a Power Four opponent.
Maryland
University of Maryland reverses decision to allow anti-Israel protest on October 7
The University of Maryland on Sunday reversed its decision to allow an anti-Israel protest on the first anniversary of the October 7 Massacre, following backlash from local Jewish groups.
UMD Students for Justice in Palestine and UMD Jewish Voice for Peace had been set to hold their October 7 vigil for Gazans killed in the Israel-Hamas War at the campus’s Mckeldin Mall, but the University System of Maryland (USM) said in a statement that on the day of the Hamas-led pogrom it would limit campus events requiring permits or approval to those supporting “a university-sponsored Day of Dialogue.”
“From the beginning of the war, we have come together as a University System to urge that we use this moment to encourage conversation, compassion, and civility; to engage with one another across our differences and draw on our shared humanity and our shared values to bridge what divides us,” said USM. “These dialogues aren’t new. Many of our universities have been hosting this kind of programming for several months. Reserving Oct. 7 gives us a chance to continue these urgent conversations and to mark this solemn anniversary in a way that gives students—all students—the time and space to share and to be heard.”
USM said that its intent was not to infringe of the free expression and speech of students, but to be sensitive to the needs of students as October 7 was a “day of enormous suffering and grief for many in our campus communities.”
UMD Jewish Student Union, Maryland Hillel, Terps for Israel, and Israeli American Council Mishelanu at Maryland welcomed the USM decision and thanked UMD leadership in a joint social media statement on Sunday.
“October 7, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, is a day of mourning for the Jewish and Israeli community,” said the UMD JSU. “We are relieved that SJP will no longer to be able to appropriate the suffering of our family and friends to fit their false and dangerous narrative.”
The Jewish groups said that it was distraught that the decision to only hold university-sponsored event had to be made at all, and wished to used the campus space to “grieve together as a community” to promote unity at the university. The unideal situation was necessary, according to the Jewish groups, to ensure the physical and psychological safety of students on the day of mourning.
UMD JVP and SJP attacked the decision to cancel the event, claiming that the vigil for Palestinians killed since the October 7 Massacre was attacked without familiarity of the content. The anti-Israel groups said that the discourse was “the continuation inherently racist, Islamophobic, and dehumanizing rhetoric surrounding Palestinians.” JVP and SJP said that the actions against their event were an attempt to paint “Muslim, Arab, and anti-Zionist Jewish students as barbaric.”
The anti-Israel groups asserted that their vigil for Palestinians who died in the war was no threat to the campus’s Jewish community, but conflation of Zionism and Judaism did threaten UMD and the Jewish community.
“To claim that Palestinians cannot hold a day of remembrance in mourning one year of genocide, or lay claim to that date is an insult to every life lost in the Zionist entity’s genocidal campaign,” UMD SJP and JVP said on Instagram on Sunday. “The disproportionate scale of suffering experienced by the Palestinians over the past year necessitates their remembrance and our solidarity on this day. The suffering of all innocents killed must not be monopolized and necessitates a fair and just representation.”
SJP and JVP demanded the right to organize and exercise their right to free speech, accusing Zionists of attempting to stifle Palestinian voices.
The organizations indicated on their Sunday Instagram post that they still planned to hold their all-day event at Mckeldin Mall, and on Monday a link to register still active and listing the campus building as the rally location.
UMD Jewish groups said that they would be holding their own event to memorialize the victims of the October 7 pogrom at the Maryland Hillel.
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