With NJ Transit engineers on strike, here’s what commuters need to know

A labour dispute betwixt NJ Transit’s locomotive engineers and the Garden State transit agency’s absorption became New Jersey’s archetypal obstruction onslaught successful much than 40 years arsenic of Friday greeting astatine 12:01 a.m. Eastern time.

Here’s what commuters request to know:

When did NJ Transit engineers spell connected strike?

As of a infinitesimal past midnight Friday, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen — the national representing astir 450 Garden State bid engineers — walked disconnected the occupation aft BLET and NJ Transit absorption spent the time astatine the bargaining array successful Newark connected Thursday. The determination impacts much than 350,000 commuters.

What are the engineers demanding?

The disagreement comes down to wages.

NJ Transit engineers say they privation parity with their colleagues astatine Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North, portion absorption says that volition pb each different national to inquire for akin raises and endanger the fiscal information of the agency.

The MTA’s Long Island Rail Road, wherever an engineer’s hourly complaint is $49.92, is the busiest of the nation’s commuter railroads. Metro-North, successful 2nd place, pays $57.20 an hour.

Currently, NJ Transit engineers, who run the nation’s 3rd busiest commuter system, commencement astatine $39.78 an hr — a fig that includes the NJ Transit engineers who run wrong New York authorities connected Metro-North’s west-of-Hudson lines.

The BLET and NJ Transit reached a tentative declaration statement successful March, aft moving without a declaration since the commencement of 2020.

That agreement, according to NJ Transit President Kris Kolluri, included a wage bump that would person seen BLET members gain $49.82 an hr by the summer. But the declaration was overwhelmingly rejected by the national rank-and-file, who voted it down by 87%.

But LIRR engineers are in the midst of their ain negotiations, and BLET’s New Jersey boss, Tom Haas, has said immoderate parity with the Long Island engineers would truthful beryllium fleeting.

Will immoderate NJ Transit trains beryllium running?

No.

How other tin NJ Transit riders get around?

NJ Transit is hoping to connection other ways to travel.

The state’s buses — whose unionized drivers just reached a declaration statement with NJ Transit this period — volition inactive beryllium running, and NJ Transit absorption is hoping to usage them to easiness the pain.

The transit bureau volition tally “park and ride” routes, with NJT buses taking radical from Secaucus Junction to the Port Authority Bus Terminal successful Midtown Manhattan, from the Hamilton obstruction presumption to Newark Penn’s PATH station, and from the Woodbridge Mall to the Harrison PATH station.

Private contractor Academy Bus volition besides run a park-and-ride from the PNC Bank Arts Center successful Holmdel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal — but Academy volition not beryllium accepting NJ Transit tickets.

Bus work volition beryllium accrued connected a bid of regular New York-bound routes, and NJ Transit obstruction tickets to oregon from New York, Newark oregon Hoboken volition beryllium cross-honored connected NJ Transit buses and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.

How agelong could a onslaught last?

It’s unclear. NJ Transit obstruction strikes are a rarity.

An NJ Transit obstruction dispute seemed headed for a onslaught backmost successful 2016, but eleventh-hour negotiations averted a enactment stoppage.

The Garden State’s engineers past deed the picket lines successful 1983, erstwhile they struck for 34 days.

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