Baltimore Frederick Douglass Tunnel Per Diem — What the Amtrak Job Really Pays (2026)

The short version for a brother deciding tonight: the Frederick Douglass Tunnel is announcing $120 a day per diem, the work runs under the first Project Labor Agreement Amtrak ever signed with the building trades, and it's replacing the 150-year-old B&P Tunnel — the oldest tunnel on the Northeast Corridor. Federal money, union-locked, multi-year. Here's the real read before you pack the truck. Is it really Union? This one was signed with the President standing there. The Frederick Douglass Tunnel runs under a PLA between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council — and it was the first agreement under Amtrak's national MOU with North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU). That MOU means Amtrak's big civil jobs up and down the Northeast Corridor will be built by unions. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Federal money, union agreement, public record — this is a verified union, no guesswork. What it pays The announced per diem is $120/day — "announced," not confirmed. No brother has reported the real paid rate from the ground to us yet, so get your number in writing from the hall before you roll. Wages run the PLA scale plus fringe through your local. Worked it? Drop the real figure in the dryshack below. What you should know going in — the local-hire flag Here's the one thing a traveler needs to know: this PLA has a local-hire preference. At least 50% of apprentice hours and 20% of journey hours are set aside for City of Baltimore residents, recruited from specific ZIP codes. That's good policy for Baltimore — but it means a traveling brother should call the Baltimore-DC Building Trades and the program's job center to confirm there's room for out-of-town dispatch before driving in. Don't assume; ask first. Where to stay Baltimore, Maryland — the tunnel runs under West Baltimore. This is a Mid-Atlantic city, more affordable than the NY-area jobs, and your $120 stretches further here. Look at the neighborhoods around the program area and the suburbs for extended-stay; weigh the commute. Lodging options are linked on the project page. Best eats nearby Baltimore's a real food town — the harbor for crab, the neighborhood spots for cheap and filling. Brothers who've worked it, tell the crew where to eat near the gate in the comments. Is the contractor fair? How's safety? Only brothers on the ground know this straight. We don't print a contractor's reputation off a press release. So: brothers who've worked the Frederick Douglass job, drop it in the dryshack. Is the GC straight with the per diem? Pushing safety or pushing schedule? How's the steward situation? Your word carries because you've been on it. That's the whole point of UnionBoomer. Protect the work — the free Print Shop UnionBoomer.com has a free Print Shop built into the Dry Shack. Any union member can fire off pro-union letters — to elected officials, non-union shops, or brothers on open-shop jobs nearby — letter campaigns at scale to protect and grow union membership. Costs you nothing. Baltimore shows what federal money plus a PLA does for working people; the letters keep that pressure on. Finding the union job is step one; keeping the work union is the long game. Make America Union Again — one letter, one brother at a time. The long-haul read Replacing a 150-year-old tunnel is a years-long build, and the Amtrak-NABTU MOU means more Northeast Corridor work is coming behind it. For a brother near the Mid-Atlantic — or willing to relocate and clear the local-hire question — it's steady union work at a livable cost. Brothers on the Frederick Douglass / B&P Tunnel job — what's the real per diem, is there room for travelers, and is the GC straight? Drop your intel in the dryshack below. And fire off a letter from the free Print Shop to a brother on a non-union job nearby. Boots on the ground.