NJ Transit Developing 'Robust' Service Plan If Workers Strike

After nine separate unions working as a coalition announced a strike date that would essentially shut down all of New Jersey Transit’s capabilities, the organization said Friday it is working on a “robust alternative service plan” in the event of a work stoppage.

The New Jersey Transit Labor Coalition, which represents some 4,000 workers in New Jersey, has gone without a new contract for five years. It announced this week that if negotiations aren’t settled by March 13, a strike would be likely.

See related: NJ Transit Strike Looming, Union Announces

NJT’s Interim Executive Director Dennis Martin said the organization is working with regional partners, including the New Jersey Department of Transportation, “to provide as much service as possible to our customers.”

Martin went on to say it’s premature to discuss details of the plan as the main focus is reaching an affordable settlement with the rail unions.

The coalition is seeking an average of 2.5-percent annual wage increases, while NJT is offering 0.6-percent annual wage increases.

In its announcement Wednesday, the Union said:

“The last thing we want is a strike,” the union said in a statement. “We have gone five years without a contract. Our settlement proposal is modest and fair. All we are asking is what has been recommended by two expert neutral panels. Congress changed the Railway Labor Act to try to prevent commuter work stoppages by having a second PEB recommend the most reasonable offer, with penalties imposed on the side that doesn’t accept the recommendation. That has almost always led to a settlement. Yet now NJT refuses. We call upon NJT to end this dispute without disruption to the riding public.”