Train strike sparks travel mess in New York area
HOBOKEN, US: Train engineers seeking higher pay went on strike Friday in New Jersey, triggering travel misery for New York-area commuters in America's biggest metropolitan corridor.
New Jersey's first state-wide transit strike in decades began a minute after midnight when contract talks fell apart, so many people showed up at stations unaware that trains were not running. Commuters scrambled to find alternative ways to get across the Hudson River into New York and elsewhere, looking at much higher fares to go by Uber or Amtrak, a national rail system. A ticket to Manhattan with the latter can cost $98.
Laura Pejo, 68, stood at a rail station in the city of Hoboken after finishing her work day and pondered a complex multi-stop bus trip to get home. 'So it will take about three hours, when my usual commute is 35-40 minutes,' she told AFP. The strike is also bad news for people headed to MetLife Stadium in the town of East Rutherford for a Shakira concert Friday night and a series of Beyonce shows over the next two weeks. Now there is no train service to the arena.
'I'm going to there early and then, depending on when the concert is over, I guess I'm going to have to schedule in advance an Uber and just hope I don't pay more than I paid for the concert ticket,' said Matthew Samuels, 25. NJ Transit, the third-largest transit system in the United States, said 350,000 customers rely on its services each day.
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) union picketed outside rail stations. Many waved signs that accused NJ Transit executives of treating themselves to expensive perks while train drivers' wages lagged behind those of colleagues in other areas of America. The union said it has been locked in a years-long dispute with NJ Transit, with its members going five years without a raise. The union is seeking new contracts for around 450 engineers with hourly wages matching those of the neighboring Long Island Rail Road. Contract negotiations are due to resume Sunday.
NJ Transit officials have said the wage hike requested by the union would end up costing the company and taxpayers millions. Governor Phil Murphy said the talks ended on a conciliatory note. 'The fact that we're not agreeing doesn't mean that we're throwing chairs at each other. To the contrary, we just are at an impasse,' he told a news conference Friday morning. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said the two sides are close to an agreement.—AFP
'We are 95 percent there,' he told the news conference. 'We'll get there.' The transportation company expects the strike to predominantly affect daily commutes for about 70,000 New York-bound passengers, while also disrupting the travel of many thousands more along its extensive network.
The last statewide transit strike occurred in 1983 and lasted 34 days. – AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kuwait Times
4 days ago
- Kuwait Times
S Korea's leader vows to ‘heal wounds' with nuke-armed North
SEOUL: South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung vowed to reach out to the nuclear-armed North and 'heal wounds' as he took office Wednesday, after winning a snap election triggered by his predecessor's disastrous martial law declaration. South Korea's new center-left leader also warned that 'rising protectionism and supply chain restructuring' pose an existential threat to Asia's export-dependent fourth-largest economy, which has been buffeted by the global trade chaos sparked by US President Donald Trump. Lee scored a thumping victory over conservative Kim Moon-soo of the disgraced ex-president's former party. His term began immediately after the vote tally was certified Wednesday. Lee secured 49.4 percent of the vote, ahead of the 41.2 percent for Kim - who conceded, having been hampered by party infighting and a third-party candidate splitting the right-wing vote. Lee spoke to South Korea's top military commander and formally assumed operational control of the country's armed forces Wednesday, urging them to maintain 'readiness' in case of Pyongyang's provocations - but said in his first comments that he was ready to talk. 'We will heal the wounds of division and war and establish a future of peace and prosperity,' he said. 'No matter how costly, peace is better than war.' He said Seoul would 'deter North Korean nuclear and military provocations while opening communication channels and pursuing dialogue and cooperation to build peace on the Korean Peninsula'. Lee took office just hours before US tariffs on steel and aluminum were due to take effect, with the 50 percent levy hitting crucial South Korean exports. 'The rapid changes in the global order such as rising protectionism and supply chain restructuring pose a threat to our very survival,' Lee said. Markets reacted favorably to the election, with the benchmark KOSPI and the won rising Wednesday. 'Significant departure' Lee's comments on North Korea are a 'significant departure' from those of his hawkish predecessor as he did not immediately attach preconditions to dialogue, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification. It signals 'his desire to resolve disagreements through talks', Hong told AFP. Lee held a modest inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly - where Yoon deployed armed troops on the night he attempted to suspend civilian rule. Lee also announced a number of top appointments, including long-time adviser Kim Min-seok as prime minister and former unification minister Lee Jong-seok as spy chief. Lee's day is expected to end with a flurry of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders, with Trump likely to be the first on the line. Trump's top diplomat, Marco Rubio, was swift to offer his own congratulations and voice hope for working with Lee, who previously sought greater distance from the United States. Washington's alliance with Seoul was 'ironclad', the US secretary of state said, citing 'shared values and deep economic ties'. In a statement, the White House described the election as 'free and fair'. But it added: 'The United States remains concerned and opposed to Chinese interference and influence in democracies around the world'. Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Lee, while emphasizing the 'great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations'. 'The Chinese side is willing to work with the South Korean side to ... firmly maintain the direction of good-neighborly friendship, adhere to the goal of mutual benefit and win-win,' Xi said, according to state media CCTV. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also said he wanted to 'energize cooperation' between Seoul and Tokyo, South Korea's former colonial ruler. And India's Narendra Modi said on X he wanted to 'strengthen' ties with Seoul as he congratulated Lee. 'Positive direction' Lee comes to power with his party already holding a parliamentary majority - secure for the next three years - meaning he is likely to be able to get his legislative agenda done. On the streets of Seoul, South Koreans said they welcomed Lee's overtures to the North. 'Since our economy and many other aspects of society are closely linked to the state of inter-Korean relations, I hope we can take a long-term perspective and move in a more positive direction,' Choi Ki-ho, 55, told AFP. Lee Ju-yeon, a 42-year-old quasi-public sector employee, said they hoped Lee 'will devote himself to uniting our divided nation'. — AFP
Kuwait Times
4 days ago
- Kuwait Times
China's factory activity hits lowest since 2022
QINGZHOU: Employees work on a tractor assembly line at a factory in Qingzhou, in eastern China's Shandong province in this photo.- AFP BEIJING: Chinese factory activity hit a more than two-year low in May, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday, as a detente in Beijing's trade war with Washington was offset by ongoing domestic problems in the world's number two economy. China and the United States agreed last month to temporarily halt most tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's goods, providing some much-needed relief to global markets. But the standoff has still piled further pressure on China's economy, which already faced a long-running real-estate crisis, sluggish consumption and high levels of local government debt. The Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index, independently calculated by S&P Global and Chinese business outlet Caixin, fell to 48.3 in May, well below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction. The figure was the lowest since September 2022 and well below the 50.4 seen in April. It was also sharply off the 50.7 forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. 'The surprisingly sharp fall... means that the survey data now point to a loss of economic momentum last month,' said Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics. 'Domestic headwinds (are) more than offsetting the boost from the US-China trade truce,' she said. Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, said the slowdown was linked to 'sluggish external demand, which fell for a second straight month'. The country should target effective measures to boost domestic demand by improving household incomes, Wang added. Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed a less severe contraction in the factory sector last month. While the NBS figure focuses on large state-owned industrial groups, the Caixin index primarily surveys small and medium-sized enterprises. But in a positive sign, a business sentiment survey by S&P Global and Caixin showed a slight improvement in May after a record drop in April, thanks to expectations of stronger foreign trade through the rest of the year. — AFP
Kuwait Times
4 days ago
- Kuwait Times
In Cairo, the little indie cinema that could
In the heart of Cairo, a small cinema has for over a decade offered a unique space for independent film in a country whose industry is largely dominated by commercial considerations. Zawya, meaning "perspective" in Arabic, has weathered the storm of Egypt's economic upheavals, championing a more artistic approach from the historical heart of the country's golden age of cinema. Zawya was born in the post-revolutionary artistic fervour of the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak. "There was this energy where people wanted to produce and create, not just in cinema, but in all the arts, you could feel it," said Zawya founder Youssef Shazli. In the time since, it has escaped a wave of closures -- some forced -- of art centers across the capital. Egypt had long been known as the Hollywood of the Arab world, but in the decades since its mid-century heyday, the domestic industry has largely been restricted to crowd-pleasing blockbusters. "It's often said that we're lucky to have a large film industry, with infrastructure already in place," said filmmaker Maged Nader. "But the truth is this industry operates solely on a commercial logic," leaving little room for independent filmmakers, he added. Yet Zawya has survived in its niche, in part due to the relative financial stability afforded to it by its parent company Misr International Films. Founded in 1972 by Egyptian cinematic giant Youssef Chahine -- Shazli's great uncle -- the company continues to produce and distribute films. People arrive at the Zawya cinema in downtown Cairo. A man walks outside the Zawya cinema in downtown Cairo.--AFP photos Young talent For Shazli, Zawya is "a cinema for films that don't fit into traditional theatres". But for young cinephiles like 24-year-old actress Lujain, "it feels like home," she told AFP as she joined a winding queue into the larger of Zawya's two theatres. Since 2014, Zawya's year-round programming -- including both local and international short films, documentaries and feature films -- has secured the loyalty of a small but passionate scene. Its annual short film festival, held every spring, has become a vital space for up-and-coming directors trying to break through a system that leaves little room for experimentation. "I didn't even consider myself a filmmaker until Zawya screened my short," said Michael Samuel, 24, who works in advertising but says the cinema rekindled his artistic ambition. For many, that validation keeps them going. "Zawya has encouraged more people to produce these films because they finally have somewhere to be seen," said the cinema's manager, Mohamed Said. When Mostafa Gerbeii, a self-taught filmmaker, was looking for a set for his first film shoot, he also turned to the cinema. Without a studio or a budget, Zawya "just lent us their hall for free for a whole day", he said, saving the young director 100,000 Egyptian pounds (around $2,000) to rent a location. The heir The light of its marquee spilling onto downtown Cairo's Emad al-Din Street, Zawya is the 21st-century heir to a long artistic tradition that still lingers, though often hidden away in corners of the district's broad avenues. "It's a unique neighborhood with an equally unique flavor of artistic and intellectual life," said Chihab El Khachab, a professor at the University of Oxford and author of the book "Making Film in Egypt". Starting in the late 19th century, the area was home to the city's biggest theatres and cabarets, launching the careers of the Arab world's most celebrated singers and actors. Today, its arteries flowing out of Tahrir square -- the heart of the 2011 uprising -- the neighborhood is home to new-age coworking spaces and galleries, side by side with century-old theatres and bars. Yet even as it withstands the hegemony of mall multiplexes, Zawya cannot escape Egypt's pervasive censorship laws. Like every cinema in Egypt, each film must pass through a state censors before screening. "Over time, you learn to predict what will slide and what won't," Shazli said. But even the censors' scissors have failed to cut off the stream of ambition among burgeoning filmmakers. "Around Zawya, there's a lot of talent -- in every corner," Shazli said. "But what I wonder is: are there as many opportunities as there is talent? That's the real issue we need to address." - AFP
