A group of New Jersey Transit workers walked off the job as of 12:01 Friday morning — a strike that could end up being one of the state’s biggest transportation disruptions in decades.
Union members said NJ Transit’s entire rail service, used by more than 100,000 weekday riders, would go offline as the agency and Gov. Phil Murphy failed to reach a deal with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Garden State transit officials warned commuters to brace for impact, urging them to work from home if possible on Friday.
The labor action, New Jersey’s first major transit strike since 1983, is not expected to affect NJ Transit’s bus service. PATH and Amtrak trains are still running in New Jersey. Coach buses and ferries were the only other mass transit options between New Jersey and Manhattan. Officials warned that all other modes of transport are likely to be more crowded, though, as a result of the strike.
The shutdown left many commuters confused at Newark Penn Station as they struggled to find alternate ways to work.
“ It’s usually a pretty easy commute from this area, but buses are infrequent, of course,” said Simone Jeanmarie, 56, who works in fashion in Midtown Manhattan. “I heard the PATH is completely packed, so I’m not even going to try to go that route and I don’t want to be crammed in like a sardine.”
Leaders of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents the people who operate NJ Transit trains, reached a tentative deal with agency officials in March. But the union’s roughly 450 rank-and-file members voted against the agreement last month, setting the stage for Friday’s strike. The workers said the offer didn’t include a large enough pay increase, noting they haven’t received a raise since their last contract expired in 2019.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen members picketed outside New York Penn Station as they went on strike Friday morning.
Ramsey Khalifeh
Union head Mark Wallace accused the state transit agency late Friday night of spending too much money on “pet projects” and management perks, and not enough on engineers.
“Enough is enough,” Wallace said in a prepared statement. “We will stay out until our members receive the fair pay that they deserve.”
NJ Transit President Kris Kolluri repeatedly said he would not agree to a deal that would imperil the agency’s fragile finances.
Murphy, standing alongside Kolluri Firday night, said the agency’s finances are paramount.
“NJ Transit is facing a sobering fiscal reality,” Murphy said at a news conference. “That is a balance we must manage.”
This is a developing story.
Stephen Nessen contributed reporting.
