ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The strike by NJ Transit engineers appears destined to last at least through the weekend, as talks between the agency and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are not scheduled to resume until Sunday, May 18.
NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said at a press conference today that the two sides have agreed to the meeting suggested by federal mediators on Sunday, although the agency is prepared to resume talks sooner.
“There isn’t this acrimony that somehow gets projected in the media,” Kolluri said, noting that he and BLET President Mark Wallace had talked briefly earlier in the day. “When we are in the room together, we understand our mission. I am fully committed to get this deal done … it has to be fair to them, but it has to be fiscally responsible.”
The Associated Press reports a mediator was also present Thursday as the sides held 15 hours of talks without agreeing to a new contract. The approximately 450 engineers represented by the BLET walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. today — the first strike against NJ Transit since 1983 and only the second in its history [see “Strike shuts down NJ Transit rail service,” Trains News Wire, May 16, 2025].
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, in the press conference with Kolluri at NJ Transit’s Aberdeen-Matawan station said, “The contract being negotiated at this moment is about the long-term future of NJ Transit … We’re holding the line for the next governor and the next administration, so they do not inherit an NJ Transit that is on the brink of fiscal collapse, but is in fact in a strong state of health.”
Murphy also said the tentative deal voted down by engineers last month would have provided the same wages, “give or take 10 cents an hour,” as those of engineers at the Long Island Rail Road, and “would not have blown up NJ Transit’s budget.”
A disparity in pay with other engineers has been a point of contention throughout negotiations. The BLET’s Wallace, in a video posted on the union’s Facebook page, said NJ Transit walked away from talks about 9:50 p.m. on Thursday. “New Jersey Transit forced our engineers out,” Wallace said. “We’re fighting for fair pay. Our engineers make about $10 less per hour than other engineers in the region, and we’re the lowest paid commuter engineers in the nation.”
There were no initial reports this morning of significant traffic jams or long lines for bus service; Kolluri said some lines have reported overcrowding, “but not to a point where people have been standing in lines … We have been able to resource those lines properly to handle the volume that is out there.” But the Friday commute is typically the lightest of the week. Monday’s commute could provide a better indication of the extent of disruption the strike will cause.
So NJT says the proposed wages are basically the same as the Long Island RR and the union is saying that’s not good enough? If I recall correctly, the LIRR has had some of the highest wages in the country.
It’s coming out in the media how much these train drivers are being paid. It’s not a good look for the union. The union can try to make a case that the workers deserve the money considering their skill set and duties — and that much of it comes from overtime — but people won’t buy it.
Transit systems expecting endless federal bailouts are going to be surprised when the money won’t be forthcoming.
The customer of NJ Transit need to make their case to both sides. When the engineers decide to come back to work, the former customers need to express their collective displeasure with the strike by not coming back. Ever. Let NJ Transit run empty trains until the state has to either beg D.C. for money or shut it down.
Wishful thinking. If the NJT riders had better, or at least no worse, options they would already be taking them.