Latest news with #BrotherhoodofLocomotiveEngineers
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Jersey Transit engineers strike, impacting 350,000 passengers
WOODLAND PARK, NJ — New Jersey Transit engineers have walked off the job, halting the agency's train service throughout the Garden State at 12:01 a.m. on May 16 after agency officials left contract talks, only the second engineers' strike in the agency's 42-year railroad history. New Jersey Transit bus service will remain in operation throughout the state, and the agency has plans to enhance bus capacity during the strike. Mark Wallace, the national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, confirmed the decision to strike. He said New Jersey Transit officials walked out of negotiations at 10 p.m. on May 15. "This rests at the feet of NJ Transit," said General Chairman Tom Haas, who represents the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The New Jersey Transit website noted early on May 16 that "due to a strike by locomotive engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), all NJ Transit rail service is currently suspended." The outcome follows a more than five-year standoff between New Jersey Transit and the locomotive engineers over renewing a contract that expired on Dec. 31, 2019. The two sides have been at odds over wages, with the engineers saying they should make a salary similar to what engineers make at Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North. They have said New Jersey Transit could otherwise risk engineers going to other railroads, which has already happened this year. The last work stoppage was in 1983, just as the agency took over control of the railroad system, and lasted 34 days. In 2016, the locomotive engineers were hours away from a work stoppage when they struck an agreement with the agency and avoided a strike. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said the two sides had been talking late on May 15, and that he was not walking away from the table. But he said the structure of a deal would have caused other unions in the agency to trigger a "me too" clause to get similar increases, which would have been a fiscal disaster for the financially troubled agency. He said the National Mediation Board was willing to talk with both sides to restart the talks. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he was not surprised by the decision to strike but that he and Kolluri were ready to resume talks. He said the two sides needed to reach a final deal that was fair to the engineers but also affordable to New Jersey commuters and taxpayers. Haas said that the union had proposed concessions to achieve cost savings through work rules changes and adjustments to their health care benefits, but that New Jersey Transit officials did not take them up on it. New Jersey Transit officials have said they offered the same raises agreed to by the agency's other unions, and if they agree to more for the engineers, they will have to offer it to the other collective bargaining units. That's a cost, New Jersey Transit officials said, that would force a massive fare increase, a rise in the state's corporate business tax, or drastic cuts to service. Tensions heightened in the last few weeks after the locomotive engineers overwhelmingly struck down a tentative agreement made in March. The two parties were summoned to Washington on May 12 by a National Mediation Board to hear both sides about where negotiations stood. Since then, the two sides have been at the bargaining table trying to get to a solution. New Jersey Transit's statewide transportation network that serves some 350,000 passengers a day will be pushed past its limit to accommodate the region's commuters who rely on rail, buses, and light rail to get to work. In the absence of the agency's 12 rail lines, weekday customers starting May 19 will have some expanded bus service on routes that mirror some rail lines. In addition, four park and ride options will be available during peak hours from Secaucus Junction, PNC Bank Arts Center, Hamilton Rail Station, and Woodbridge Center. Additional options include PATH, Amtrak, ferries, and other private buses. New Jersey Transit's contingency plan, which is costing at least $4 million a day, is expected to only accommodate about 20% of typical rail riders. Agency officials have encouraged those who can work from home to do so. If you are commuting during the strike and want to share your experience, please email transportation reporter Colleen Wilson at cwilson2@ Include your name, town, route that you normally take and contact information. This article originally appeared on New Jersey Transit engineers strike after agency officials left talks
New York Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NJ Transit strike appears ever more likely ahead of midnight deadline: ‘It's going to be ugly'
NJ Transit riders are facing massive service disruptions as the system barrels like a runaway train toward Thursday's midnight deadline to avoid its first major rail strike in over 40 years. The Garden State-owned rail service has already festooned stations with screaming-red signage warning of deep service cuts starting at midnight Friday if contract negotiations with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers union fall through. Deep rail service cuts will start at midnight Friday if contract negotiations with NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers union fall through. Christopher Sadowski 'CRITICAL SERVICE ADVISORY: Due to a potential rail stoppage, NJ Transit strongly advises all train customers to complete their travels and arrive at their final destination no later than 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 15th,' reads one sign on a TV monitor at Port Authority Bus Terminal. Commuters told The Post they're already trying to figure out alternatives to public transit should the strike still happen — and the options are rough on the pocketbook. NJ resident Lisa Monroe, 53, who works in media, said working for home is not an option for her, and that driving back and forth to the city five days a week will add up to around $425 a week, not including gas. 'Honestly I don't know what I'm going to do,' she said, noting she's already considering what expenses she can reduce on to make it work. 'We have to spend more money on getting to work, just to commute, and your salary is not going to match. My salary is not going to go out with the additional $85 or more a day because of a strike. I have to cut back.' In spite of this, Monroe said she had sympathy for the NJ Transit workers walking off the job. 'I don't want to blame the workers for going on strike, but it's a hardship for me.' NJ Transit is already warning travelers to prepare for service disruptions ahead of Friday's labor negotiation deadline. AP Commuter Maritza Moreira, 37, who works in construction, said she's thinking about staying with her mother in the city with her 9-month-old daughter and her husband, who also works in New York, though it might be cramped quarters, she said. 'I have reached my limits. It's getting more and more frustrating everyday. The train was extremely late today and I just don't understand why. People are paying, they're packed and now they're talking about a strike. I just can't understand about the money. The tickets aren't getting cheaper. The prices went up so I don't see where it's going,' she said. Moreira said she's even considering fleeing the Garden State and moving to the South — in part due to frustration with the trains. She works from home three days a week but is hoping to convince her employer to up it to five days. With only hours to go until the deadline, the impact could be felt by riders as soon as midnight Thursday. 'There are no replacement workers, and it's definitely going to involve interruptions in service — NJ Transit is being very clear about that,' Micah Rasmussen, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics and a former communications director for ex-NJ Gov. Jim McGreevy told The Post. 'It's not as if service can just be cobbled together on a shoestring, and they know that. I think it's going to be ugly,' Rasmussen said of a possible rail strike, though he said he was hopeful the negotiations — which saw the sides meet in Washington, DC, this week, will bear fruit. 'It sounds like there is a possible ray of hope there. We'll see. We'll know by midnight.' A source familiar with the ongoing discussions between NJ Transit and the union told The Post that although there had been setbacks, there's also 'been some real bargaining going on,' but that 'whether they have enough time to get it done remains to be seen.' Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers general chairman Tom Haas said during negotiations on Wednesday that he was 'optimistic' an agreement can be reached, the source said. NJ Transit announced on Monday it was preemptively cutting bus and rail service to MetLife Stadium Thursday and Friday due to the possible strike, where Shakira will be performing to an audience of tens of thousands. Thursday's concert is sold out, meaning the strikes could impact thousands of the stadium's 82,500 capacity crowd depending how many were planning on taking public transit.
