NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Transit and its train engineers are on the brink of a potential strike as early as next week. However, both parties are set to meet with the Federal Mediation Committee in Washington first, aiming to avert a rail closure.
The National Mediation Committee has summoned both sides to attend a meeting on Monday to address their differences, according to statements made by both parties on Friday.
A strike could take place as soon as May 16th, which would severely disrupt commuters throughout the state.
New Jersey Transit manages bus and rail services statewide, providing around 1 million weekday trips, including to New York City. The agency has announced plans to expand bus services in the event of a rail strike, although buses cannot accommodate nearly as many passengers.
The solidarity between the locomotive engineers and management was significantly undermined in mid-April when Labor agreements with management were overwhelmingly rejected. Previous discussions indicated that the interim agreement contained “reasonable wage increases” for union members and aimed to address long-standing grievances.
Since that time, tensions have escalated between both parties in their labor disputes. This conflict dates back to 2019, when the engineering contract expired. Union leaders have pointed out that train engineers have not received a pay raise in the last five years.
Source: apnews.com