New Jersey Transit engineers reach tentative labor agreement to end strike
Shreeaa Rathi | TIMESOFINDIA.COM | May 19, 2025, 18:25 IST
( Image credit : AP, TOIGLOBAL )
In a significant development, New Jersey Transit has come to a tentative agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, potentially putting an end to the three-day strike that has disrupted services. This deal, which focuses on wage issues, now awaits ratification from both union members and the NJ Transit board.
Negotiators for New Jersey Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) reached a tentative labor agreement on Sunday, potentially ending a three-day strike by 450 engineers that began Friday. The agreement, addressing wage concerns, still requires ratification by union members and the NJ Transit board. While engineers are expected back on Monday, full service resumption may take until Tuesday due to logistical complexities. The strike had the potential to disrupt commutes for around 100,000 daily riders and impact businesses and events in the New York metropolitan area.
The strike, which began Friday, raised concerns about disruptions for commuters and businesses.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced the tentative agreement at a Sunday evening press conference.
“This is a good result for labor. It’s a good result for NJ Transit. It’s a good result for commuters and taxpayers,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Sunday evening press conference.
NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri explained the timeline for resuming operations.
“This is an extraordinarily complex operation,” he said at the press conference. “We run hundreds of trains a day. We have to make sure all the equipment is where it needs to be, all the safety inspections have been done … For us, it is better to get it right, and do it methodically, than to rush and meet some artificial deadline and get it wrong.”
Murphy requested commuters to work from home on Monday, similar to the previous Friday.
Mondays typically have lighter ridership compared to the rest of the week.
The union also expressed satisfaction with the agreement.
“While I won’t get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit’s managers walked away from the table Thursday evening,” Tom Haas, the head of a union unit that represents the NJ Transit engineers, said.
Haas also highlighted potential benefits for NJ Transit.
“We also were able to show management ways to boost engineers’ wages that will help NJT with retention and recruitment, without causing any significant budget issue or requiring a fare increase,” he added.
The terms of the tentative deal were not immediately disclosed.
The agreement requires ratification by the majority of union members. A previous agreement was rejected by 87% of the members.
It also needs approval from the New Jersey Transit board.
Murphy and Kolluri expressed optimism about the engineers' acceptance of this agreement.
“The past is the past,” Kolluri said. “I think we’ve learned some important lessons on what the membership wanted.”
Both sides had indicated progress towards a deal to provide engineers with their first raise since 2019.
The union sought wage parity with engineers at other rail systems, including Amtrak and commuter lines serving Philadelphia, the New York City suburbs, and Long Island.
BLET reported a 10% decrease in the number of engineers at the railroad since the beginning of the year.
Murphy and Kolluri emphasized their commitment to a fair wage increase for the engineers.
They also noted that meeting the union's wage demands could trigger "me too" clauses in the contracts of 14 other unions at the commuter service. These clauses would allow other unions to see their pay raises increase to match the engineers' deal.
Murphy and Kolluri stated that the agency could not afford such an increase.
BLET president Mark Wallace asserted that the union had proposed a way to increase wages without triggering the "me too" clauses.
Railroads operate under the Railway Labor Act, a federal law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries.
This act limits the union's ability to strike.
Congress has the power to order union members to accept contract terms, even if they have rejected them.
In December 2022, Congress voted in favor of a deal rejected by the majority of over 100,000 union members at the nation's four major freight railroads.
However, Congress had not indicated any intention to intervene in the case of the commuter railroad strike.
While Congress has intervened in freight railroad strikes, commuter rail strikes have lasted for extended periods without Congressional action.
The state and New Jersey Transit faced pressure to reach an agreement to end the strike.
The strike was costing NJ Transit approximately $4 million per day, according to Kolluri.
New Jersey Transit experienced a one-month strike in 1983.
Other transit authorities, such as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority and Metro North, have also experienced lengthy strikes.
The Long Island Rail Road also had a strike that lasted 11 days.
The strike had the potential to inconvenience fans of Beyoncé, who has five concerts beginning Thursday evening at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just 10 miles from Midtown Manhattan.
The strike, which began Friday, raised concerns about disruptions for commuters and businesses.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced the tentative agreement at a Sunday evening press conference.
“This is a good result for labor. It’s a good result for NJ Transit. It’s a good result for commuters and taxpayers,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Sunday evening press conference.
NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri explained the timeline for resuming operations.
“This is an extraordinarily complex operation,” he said at the press conference. “We run hundreds of trains a day. We have to make sure all the equipment is where it needs to be, all the safety inspections have been done … For us, it is better to get it right, and do it methodically, than to rush and meet some artificial deadline and get it wrong.”
Murphy requested commuters to work from home on Monday, similar to the previous Friday.
Mondays typically have lighter ridership compared to the rest of the week.
The union also expressed satisfaction with the agreement.
“While I won’t get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit’s managers walked away from the table Thursday evening,” Tom Haas, the head of a union unit that represents the NJ Transit engineers, said.
Haas also highlighted potential benefits for NJ Transit.
“We also were able to show management ways to boost engineers’ wages that will help NJT with retention and recruitment, without causing any significant budget issue or requiring a fare increase,” he added.
The terms of the tentative deal were not immediately disclosed.
The agreement requires ratification by the majority of union members. A previous agreement was rejected by 87% of the members.
It also needs approval from the New Jersey Transit board.
Murphy and Kolluri expressed optimism about the engineers' acceptance of this agreement.
“The past is the past,” Kolluri said. “I think we’ve learned some important lessons on what the membership wanted.”
Both sides had indicated progress towards a deal to provide engineers with their first raise since 2019.
The union sought wage parity with engineers at other rail systems, including Amtrak and commuter lines serving Philadelphia, the New York City suburbs, and Long Island.
BLET reported a 10% decrease in the number of engineers at the railroad since the beginning of the year.
Murphy and Kolluri emphasized their commitment to a fair wage increase for the engineers.
They also noted that meeting the union's wage demands could trigger "me too" clauses in the contracts of 14 other unions at the commuter service. These clauses would allow other unions to see their pay raises increase to match the engineers' deal.
Murphy and Kolluri stated that the agency could not afford such an increase.
BLET president Mark Wallace asserted that the union had proposed a way to increase wages without triggering the "me too" clauses.
Railroads operate under the Railway Labor Act, a federal law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries.
This act limits the union's ability to strike.
Congress has the power to order union members to accept contract terms, even if they have rejected them.
In December 2022, Congress voted in favor of a deal rejected by the majority of over 100,000 union members at the nation's four major freight railroads.
However, Congress had not indicated any intention to intervene in the case of the commuter railroad strike.
While Congress has intervened in freight railroad strikes, commuter rail strikes have lasted for extended periods without Congressional action.
The state and New Jersey Transit faced pressure to reach an agreement to end the strike.
The strike was costing NJ Transit approximately $4 million per day, according to Kolluri.
New Jersey Transit experienced a one-month strike in 1983.
Other transit authorities, such as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority and Metro North, have also experienced lengthy strikes.
The Long Island Rail Road also had a strike that lasted 11 days.
The strike had the potential to inconvenience fans of Beyoncé, who has five concerts beginning Thursday evening at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, just 10 miles from Midtown Manhattan.