NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Transit’s train engineers reached a tentative deal Sunday to end their three-day strike that had halted service for some 100,000 daily riders, including routes to Newark airport and across the Hudson River to New York City.
The walkout that began Friday was the state’s first transit strike in over 40 years, forcing people who normally rely on New Jersey Transit to take buses, cars, taxis and boats instead or consider staying home.
NJ Transit’s board also has to approve the deal.
NJ Transit — the nation’s third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City.
NJ Transit leadership, though, disputed the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.
N. NEWARK. J. (AP) — On Sunday, the train engineers of New Jersey Transit came to a provisional agreement to terminate their three-day strike, which had prevented service for approximately 100,000 passengers every day, including routes to Newark airport and to New York City across the Hudson River. The union stated that when trains resumed their regular schedules on Tuesday, its members would be going back to work.
People who typically depend on New Jersey Transit were forced to take buses, cars, taxis, and boats instead, or think about staying at home, as the walkout, which started Friday, was the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years. How to raise the engineers’ pay without having a catastrophic fallout for the transit agency’s finances had been the primary concern.
Following their initial announcement that regular train service would resume on Monday, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said NJ Transit notified them that it would actually start on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., according to union spokesperson Jamie Horwitz. A. as an alternative.
The Tuesday start was required because “it takes approximately 24 hours to inspect and prepare the infrastructure before returning to full scheduled service,” according to a statement from the transit agency. “.”.
The 450 members of the union who are locomotive engineers or trainees at the passenger railroad will receive the terms of the agreement, according to a union statement sent by email.
Tom Haas, the union’s general chairman at NJ Transit, stated, “I won’t go into the specifics of the agreement reached, but 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.”.
The union, he continued, was able to demonstrate to management “how to boost engineers’ wages dot.”. without necessitating a fare increase or creating any serious budgetary problems. “”.
The agreement would also need a vote by the New Jersey Transit board at its next regularly scheduled meeting on June 11 and would be put forward for ratification by the national union, according to the union statement. The agreement must be approved by NJ Transit’s board as well.
“This is a very good outcome, to use the year’s understatement,” NYG said. stated by Phil Murphy during a press conference on Sunday night. The agreement reached by the parties is “fair to NJ Transit’s employees while also being affordable for our state’s commuters and taxpayers,” he said. “.”.
Kris Kolluri, CEO of NJ Transit, described the agreement as “fair and fiscally responsible” but did not elaborate. He commended the union for engaging in sincere negotiations.
At the news conference, Kolluri stated, “The deal itself reflects a series of concessions that came together by way of a work bill that will eventually end up paying for this fair wage that the union has asked for.”.
On Monday, buses would be available, but Murphy and Kolluri encouraged commuters to work from home for one more day if at all possible.
In order for us to move crucial employees through the system, kindly complete that tomorrow, Kolluri said.
A month prior, a labor agreement with management had been overwhelmingly rejected by union members.
Almost 1 million weekday trips, including those into New York City, are provided by NJ Transit, the third-largest transit system in the country. All NJ Transit commuter trains, which offer popular public transportation routes between communities in northern New Jersey and New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River, as well as the Newark airport, which has recently experienced unrelated delays of its own, were suspended due to the walkout.
NJ Transit must pay engineers a wage that is on par with Amtrak and Long Island Railroad, according to union national president Mark Wallace, since some engineers are leaving for positions on those other railroads in search of higher compensation.
According to the union, the average salary of its members has been $113,000 annually, and it was seeking an agreement for an average salary of $170,000.
But NJ Transit officials denied the union’s findings, claiming that engineers make an average of $135,000 a year, with the highest paid engineers making over $200,000.
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