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After a strike cast three days of quiet on New Jersey’s rails while intense negotiations continued behind closed doors, NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached an agreement.
Service on most NJ Transit train lines will resume Tuesday following safety inspections, equipment placement and other logistics, Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said at a May 18 press briefing.
New Jersey elected officials were ready to cheer the deal with statements its import for the Garden State and its residents.
How did officials react?
Rep. Nellie Pou, the Paterson Democrat who represents the 9th Congressional District, said she is “very grateful that both sides acted with urgency this weekend and have come to an agreement.”
“It is my hope that transit service will be largely back to normal by Tuesday,” she said. “Let’s get the system running and people back on their trains as soon as possible.”
Gov. Phil Murphy called the deal “fair and fiscally responsible” and noted it “provides a generous wage increase for BLET members while saving taxpayers and customers the burden of fare increases.”
“This agreement reflects the commitment of both the BLET and NJ TRANSIT to remain at the table engaging in productive conversations, and I commend them both,” he said. “Most importantly, it ensures the resumption of rail service for the 100,000 people who depend on our rail system on a daily basis.”
State Senate President Nick Scutari called the settlement a “major victory for New Jersey.”
“The strike made it unmistakably clear how vital public transit is to our state’s daily function. It is the backbone of our workforce, our economy, and our quality of life,” he said. “Now, we must take that same energy and channel it into strengthening our transit system for the long term. We need a system that is resilient and ready to meet the needs of riders and workers alike. That work starts now. We owe it to the people of New Jersey to get this right and keep it right.”
His colleague in the lower chamber, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin was “relieved” by the agreement.
“The past few days have been frustrating and uncertain for many, and the return of service offers a sense of stability people have been waiting for,” he said.
Has NJ Transit had strikes before?
This was the second strike in the agency’s 42-year railroad ristory. The engineers’ previous contract expired on Dec. 31, 2019 and the crux of the issue during negotiations had been 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.
The last NJ Transit 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.
Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com
