NJ Transit Strike Looming, Union Announces

A negotiations derailment could turn into more than 4,000 New Jersey Transit workers striking across the Garden State, resulting in a mass commuter frenzy in the tri-state area.

In a joint statement released late Wednesday by the New Jersey Transit Labor Coalition, the union said if a negotiation settlement isn’t reached, the group is able to strike at 12:01 a.m. on March 13.

If the workers don’t strike, it’s still possible New Jersey Transit can lock them out, resulting in the same effect: no mass transportation.

According to the union:

Under Section 9a of the Railway Labor Act, which is the law covering NJT commuter rail workers, the cooling off period expires 12:01 am on March 13. If no deal is reached by then, the unions can strike and/or NJT can lock its workers out. A strike or lockout can only be ended by the parties agreeing to a settlement, or Congress passing a law to end the dispute, which both sides believe would be highly unlikely.

The union, which has been without a contract for five years, has adopted the recommendation of President Emergency Board 248 which call for an average of 2.5-percent annual pay increases to go along with increases in healthcare contributions.

According to the union, NJT’s offer is for 0.6-percent wage increases annually.

“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.”