Mass travel chaos sparks MAYHEM in America's busiest city in worst in '40 years strike'

Daily Mail​

17-05-2025

Commuters are battling travel chaos this morning after New Jersey 's first statewide transit strike in more 40 years began.
Roughly 450 unionized locomotive engineers walked off the job at midnight, shutting down the New Jersey Transit's rail network.
Picket lines are currently underway at Penn Station in New York City, the Atlantic City Rail Terminal and NJ Transit headquarters in Newark.
The strike has left roughly 350,000 riders without transport today, impacting their ability to get from the Garden State and into New York City.
Hoboken, a popular commuter city in NJ, advised residents overnight to expect 'significant disruption to regional transportation' on Friday.
'All NJ Transit rail service will be suspended at that time following failed contract negotiations between NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET),' city officials said in a statement.
NJ Transit has encouraged commuters to work from home today and limit travel on the railway system to 'essential purposes only'.
Gov. Philip D. Murphy during a press conference Friday morning apologized to riders whose commute has been disrupted by the strike, which he branded a 'slap in the face of every commuter'.
Murphy, alongside with NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri, urged the union to reach a fair resolution with the transit agency quickly.
The strike began at midnight Friday after union and transit leadership failed to reach an agreement following 15 hours of nonstop contract discussions.
The dispute is largely over wages with union members, who claim to earn on average $113,000 annually, saying an agreement could be reached if their salaries were increased to $170,000.
NJ transit leadership disputes the BLET's data, alleging most engineers earn $135,000 annually.
The union has said it is simply aiming to raise the engineers' salaries to match those at other commuter railroads in the region.
But NJ Transit claims it cannot afford the pay raises that the engineers are seeking because 14 other unions that negotiate separate labor contracts with the agency would demand the same, higher wage rates for their members.
The last NJ Transit strike, which took place in 1983, lasted for about one month. It is unclear how long this picket will continue, but it is expected to continue throughout the weekend.
Officials say contract talks will continue over the weekend. if an agreement is reached before Monday, they expect trains to run again next week.
The next talks are scheduled for Sunday with the help of federal mediators. The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington, and a mediator was present during Thursday's talks.
'We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock,' Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said of the negotiations.
NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri described the situation as a 'pause in the conversations.'
'I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible,' he said late Thursday during a joint news conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
'If they're willing to meet tonight, I'll meet them again tonight. If they want to meet tomorrow morning, I'll do it again. Because I think this is an imminently workable problem. The question is, do they have the willingness to come to a solution.'
PATH trains are running on their normal schedules today and additional trains are being added to help avoid crowding, officials say.
But riders are warned to expect 'temporary crowding conditions' on the PATH and are encouraged to avoid travelling on trains altogether if possible.
The MTA Metro-North Railroad is cross-honoring some tickets and is providing park-and-ride services.
NJ Transit is also cross-honoring rail tickets for buses and light rails during the strike.
The agency said it would also increase bus services on existing lines and charter private buses to operate from several satellite lots in the event of a rail strike but warned buses would only be able to handle around 20 per cent of rail customers.
NJ Transit train terminals were quiet for Friday's rush hour as estimated 350,000 daily commuters in New Jersey and New York City were forced to seek other means to reach their destinations.
Groups of picketers gathered in front of transit headquarters in Newark and at the Hoboken Terminal, carrying signs that said 'Locomotive Engineers on Strike' and 'NJ Transit: Millions for Penthouse Views Nothing for Train Crews.'
BLET National President Mark Wallace walked the picket line outside New York City's Penn Station, and he said the engineers are committed to staying on strike until they get a fair deal.
Union members were nearly unanimous in authorizing a strike last summer, and 87 per cent of them rejected the latest agreement.
Wallace said NJ Transit needs to pay engineers a wage that's comparable to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad because engineers are leaving for jobs on those other railroads for better pay,
Friday's rail commute into New York from New Jersey is typically the lightest of the week.
In New York, some commuters from New Jersey said they could not work remotely and had to come in, taking busses to the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan.
David Milosevich, a fashion and advertising casting director, was on his way to a photo shoot in Brooklyn. At 1am he checked his phone and saw the strike was on.
'I left home very early because of it,' he said, grabbing the bus in Montclair, New Jersey, and arriving in Manhattan at 7am. 'I think a lot of people don't come in on Fridays since COVID. I don't know what's going to happen Monday.'
Many people were concerned not only with their morning commute but making sure they had a way to get home.
'When I come back home to New Jersey what do I do?' nurse Pam Watkins, of Edison, asked an NJ Transit customer service helper on her way to work on Brooklyn on Friday morning.
The worker helped her punch through a touch screen that would help her use her commuter ticket for the bus back. She said: 'I don´t want to be figuring it out on my way home.'
Some riders who were unaware of the strike learned what had happened as they waited at transit stations early Friday for trains that would not be coming. Others sought help to get to their destinations.
'How do I get to Newark (Liberty Airport)?' entrepreneur Vishal Gonday, with a large red suitcase in tow, asked a reporter after trying to get a train ticket at an automated terminal. 'It has kind of messed up my plans' he said, adding he was trying to get a flight to India.
Some passengers reported a smooth commute and were planning on trying to make it to New York on Monday even if the strike continues.
'I may have to leave home an hour early.' said Zach Moran, an operations worker at a wealth management company in Manhattan who alternates commutes by bus and rail but can work remotely if necessary.
A few blocks from the Port Authority bus terminal, the NJ Transit train terminal was quiet, with an NJ transit worker in an orange hoody on hand to warn riders it was closed, Signs read: 'service suspended.'
The South Amboy train station, an express stop on the NJ Transit rail line, was vacant. But the Waterway ferry that began service only 18 months ago from a waterside launching point that´s a 10-minute walk from the train station was busier than usual for its 6:40 a.m., 55-minute nonstop trip to Manhattan.
The ferry runs once an hour during the morning and evening commutes. With about three dozen people aboard, more than half the seats in the ferry´s lower deck were empty.
Murphy said Thursday night that it was important to 'reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey's commuters and taxpayers.'
'Again, we cannot ignore the agency's fiscal realities,' the Governor added.
Hoboken Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla, whose city is heavily impacted by Friday's disruptions, has criticized the 'frustrating' industrial action.
'This is a deeply frustrating moment for Hoboken and the region. NJ Transit and BLET had months to reach an agreement and prevent this disruption, which now impacts hundreds of thousands of commuters and residents,' he posted on X late Thursday.
'I ask residents to please avoid driving if possible, as we expect heavy congestion starting tomorrow, and to leave extra time to commute into NYC via the PATH, bus and ferry given the anticipated influx of commuters.'
NJ Transit - the nation's third-largest transit system - operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City.
The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City's Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.
Earlier, even the thread of a strike caused travel disruptions. Amid the uncertainty, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Congress has the power to intervene and block the strike and force the union to accept a deal, but lawmakers have not shown a willingness to do that this time like they did in 2022 to prevent a national freight railroad strike.
The union has seen steady attrition in its ranks at NJ Transit as more of its members leave to take better-paying jobs at other railroads. The number of NJ Transit engineers has shrunk from 500 several months ago to about 450.