New Jersey’s commuter rail engineers walked off the job early on Friday after 11th-hour contract talks with the third-largest U.S. public transit system stalled ahead of a midnight strike deadline set for meeting union wage demands.
The first labor strike against the New Jersey Transit agency in more than 40 years went into effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Friday.
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The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents 450 NJ Transit engineers who drive the agency’s commuter trains, said a marathon 15-hour bargaining session on Thursday broke off when management negotiators walked out of the talks at 10 p.m.
The union announcement came as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and NJ Transit’s Chief Executive Officer Kris Kolluri were holding a news conference. They told reporters talks had paused but that management remained willing to return to the bargaining table at any time.
“We must reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and affordable,” Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters. “Let’s get back to the table and seal a deal.”
NJ Transit said the rail system was commencing “a safe shutdown” at 12:01 a.m., with no new departures started after that point, although trains already en route would finish their trips.
Source: Reuters
