New Jersey Transit’s locomotive engineers voted unanimously Thursday to authorize a strike after years of contract negotiations stalled, but any potential work stoppage or disruption to services is likely months away as mediation plays out.
(Bloomberg) — New Jersey Transit’s locomotive engineers voted unanimously Thursday to authorize a strike after years of contract negotiations stalled, but any potential work stoppage or disruption to services is likely months away as mediation plays out.
Despite the strike authorization, the service that shuttles about 147,000 people between New Jersey and New York on average every weekday won’t face immediate disruption. The Railway Labor Act, a US federal law, prevents employees from walking off the job at this point, and an actual work stoppage would be months away. New Jersey railroad employees’ last strike took place in 1983, a stoppage that lasted more than a month.
The nearly 500 locomotive engineers, which operate the agency’s commuter trains, have been involved in negotiations for better pay since October 2019. The group is represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a transit union, that is pushing for raises to match salaries at competing commuter railroads like the US national railroad Amtrak and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro North, which run commuter services in New York and Connecticut.
All of the eligible ballots cast voted in favor of the strike authorization, according an emailed statement from the union. About 81% of the nearly 500 eligible union voters cast ballots, the union said.
“NJT’s locomotive engineers have spoken loud and clear,” Eddie Hall, the union’s president, said in the emailed statement. “We would prefer to reach a voluntary settlement, but make no mistake, with this vote the clock is now ticking. As soon as it is lawful for us to act, we will.”
A strike, if that ultimately happens, would not be likely until 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing the plans.
The union’s vote comes as cash-strapped transit agencies across the US are still operating below pre-pandemic ridership, as hybrid work reduces everyday commuting. New Jersey Transit is projecting a $119 million budget gap for fiscal year 2025, the last year the agency has pandemic-relief aid, according to board documents. That’s expected to increase to a $917.8 million shortfall in 2026.
Related: Biggest US Transit Systems Face a $6.6 Billion Funding Shortfall
Commuters shouldn’t fret about imminent service disruptions, including over the Labor Day holiday weekend. NJ Transit obtained a court injunction in June 2022 after a coordinated effort by the system’s engineers’ union to call in sick forced service cancellations, according to the agency. That injunction remains in effect and “specifically prohibits the union from engaging in any strike or job action,” Jim Smith, a spokesperson for NJ Transit, said in an emailed statement before the vote. He reiterated his comments after the results were released.
“The new court order also required that the union e-mail their members to remind them that the injunction remains in place to ensure service is uninterrupted over the holiday weekend,” Smith said. “Further, we are still actively engaged in mediation with the union and a strike is not permissible while mediation is ongoing – that would be a violation of the Railway Labor Act.”
The National Mediation Board, a federal agency that oversees labor relations at the nation’s railroads and airlines, is leading the mediation between NJ Transit and the union. The board can hold such sessions indefinitely, but can release parties from mediation if it decides that they’re at an impasse. A mandated cooling off period for 30 days would follow. Then the US president could create a presidential emergency board, or the US Congress could intervene.
(Updates to add NJ Transit comment in eighth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.