Port of New York Expansion

The short version for a brother deciding tonight: the Port of New York/New Jersey expansion is announcing $120 a day per diem, the work runs through union hiring halls under a New Jersey PLA, and the Port Authority's own capital plan counts more than 33,000 union construction jobs across the region through the mid-2030s. If you work heavy-civil or marine, this is long, dispatched, union-locked work. Here's the real read before you pack the truck. Is it really union? This isn't a guess — it's the Port Authority's own number. The Port Authority of NY/NJ's record $45 billion 2026–2035 Capital Plan counts more than 50,000 jobs, including more than 33,000 union construction jobs in the region. New Jersey public works run under Project Labor Agreements that staff the work through union hiring halls — hall dispatch, no merit-shop end-run. Expect the marine and heavy-civil mix: Dockbuilders, Pile Drivers, Operating Engineers, Laborers, Ironworkers, Carpenters, and IBEW across the airport, terminal, bridge, and port work. What it pays The announced per diem is $120/day — and "announced" is the word that matters. No brother has confirmed that number from the ground to us yet, so get your rate in writing from the hall before you take the dispatch. Wages run the negotiated PLA scale plus fringe through your local; call the hall for the full package. Brothers on this job — drop the real number in the dryshack below. That's how we keep each other honest. Where to stay Newark and the surrounding NJ port towns are your base. This is metro NY/NJ — no remote-camp problem, the problem is cost. Look at Newark, Elizabeth, and Jersey City for extended-stay spots, and weigh the PATH/transit commute against driving and parking, which gets expensive fast near the terminals. Lodging options near the job are linked on the project page — run the math on what you actually pocket after the room. Best eats nearby The one upside of a NY/NJ job is the food. The Ironbound district in Newark is the move — Portuguese and Spanish spots, big portions, working-man prices, walkable from a lot of the cheaper lodging. It's where the crews eat. Tell a brother what's good near your gate in the comments. Is the contractor fair? How's safety? This is what you want to know before you drive — and it's exactly what only brothers on the ground can tell you straight. We don't print a contractor's reputation off a press release; that's the rat-board move. Instead: brothers who've worked the Port Authority jobs, drop it in the dryshack. Is the GC straight with the per diem? Are they pushing safety or pushing the schedule? How's the steward situation? Your word carries here because you've been on it. That intel is the whole point of UnionBoomer — boots on the ground, telling it real. Protect the work — the free Print Shop Here's the part that's bigger than any one job. UnionBoomer.com has a free Print Shop built right into the Dry Shack. Any union member can fire off pro-union letters — to elected officials, to non-union shops, to brothers working open-shop jobs nearby — letter campaigns at scale to protect and grow union membership. It costs you nothing. Finding the union job is step one; keeping the work union is the long game. That's how we Make America Union Again — one letter, one brother at a time. The long-haul read The PANYNJ Capital Plan runs to 2035. For a brother who can handle the NY/NJ cost of living, that's a decade of dispatched union work on one of the most important port complexes in the country. Steady. Union. Real. Brothers on the Port of NY/NJ job — what's the real per diem, which package, and is the GC straight? Drop your intel in the dryshack below. And while you're there, fire off a letter from the free Print Shop to a brother on a non-union job nearby — that's how we put union work in front of him. Boots on the ground.