NJ Transit Strike Ends in Tentative Agreement

A strike by New Jersey Transit locomotive engineers caused severe service disruptions in the region through the weekend and Monday as the engineers demonstrated in support of their union’s demands. “After years of negotiations, NJ Transit, which operates more than 925,000 weekday trips across its rail, bus and light-rail platforms, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen failed to agree on a new contract.”

As Sri Taylor explains in Bloomberg CityLab, “All 12 of NJ Transit’s commuter rail lines are shuttered, though the system’s buses and light-rail service continue.” Commuters shifted to the Port Authority’s PATH trains, among other options.

The union says they want pay parity with engineers at other heavy rail agencies. “But NJ Transit officials have warned that agreeing to the demands would require increasing a tax on New Jersey businesses or raising fares.” 

As of Sunday, the two parties agreed to a deal to resume service starting Tuesday morning, according to reporting by The New York Times. “[New Jersey Governor] Murphy declined to provide any details of the tentative agreement but said it was ‘fair to NJ Transit’s employees while also being affordable for our state’s commuters and taxpayers.’”