Wednesday evening, the New Jersey Transit Board pushed the Garden State on the verge of its first major rail strike since 1983, adjourning their monthly meeting without concluding an agreement with the agency’s locomotive engineer union.
The brotherhood of locomotive engineers and trains authorized a strike from 12:01 p.m. Friday, which would close the suburban rail service for around 100,000 runners. The union’s management concluded a provisional agreement with NJ Transit last month, but the majority of around 450 basic members elected it.
During the meeting, the president of NJ Transit, Kris Kolluri, said that he was “supremely optimistic” that an agreement would be concluded on Friday. He has warned in recent weeks in New Jersey runners, a strike could be imminent and said they should prepare to work at home.
“We have concluded an agreement once before and I think we can do it again,” said Kolluri. “It must be fair for employees, but it must also be just for taxpayers and riders.”
The officials said the negotiations will resume Thursday at 9 am.
A group of locomotive engineers – workers who drive NJ Transit trains – protested outside the meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday evening, noting that they have been working without contract since 2019.
“We are a 24 -hour operation a day, 365 days a year,” said locomotive engineer Tom Haas. “Usually what we say to people when they start is that things like weekends, holidays, birthdays of your children, baseball games, things like that, you will miss them.”
If a strike begins on Friday, NJ Transit and the MTA published alternative service plans, including the additional bus service and inter-episored tickets. Kolluri said that the suburban trains in service when the strike comes into force at midnight will continue to continue until their last stop before the crew comes out.
