Drunk Unions Working at Ground Zero

World Trade Center construction workers drinking on the job

By HEATHER HADDON and BRAD HAMILTON, New York Post

Last Updated: 12:35 PM, August 14, 2011

Posted: 1:06 AM, August 14, 2011

Ground Zero hardhats are hitting the hard stuff at lunch -- guzzling beers and shots at nearby bars before stumbling back to their dangerous jobs on the hallowed site, The Post has learned.

With cost overruns crossing the $2 billion mark and the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, some reckless workers were seen on midday breaks last week filling their bellies with enough booze to become legally drunk.

The men then stumbled back to the site, where workers have reached the 78th floor of 1 World Trade Center as they attempt to build a virtually indestructible skyscraper.

Construction is now in a delicate phase that demands clear-headed concentration, with crews ascending to the upper floors of the 1,776-foot Tower 1 and 947-foot Tower 4 as part of a furious, round-the-clock schedule to complete four buildings, a transit hub and a memorial.

The Post spotted two dozen workers stream north from the site each day at about 11:45 a.m. and pack two Murray Street watering holes for their hourlong lunch breaks -- the same pub pilgrimage hardhats were making two years ago from Ground Zero.