NJ Transit Negotiations: Talks To Resume Monday In Newark

UPDATE: At 5:40 p.m. Friday, New Jersey Transit released a statement saying talks would resume Monday in Newark. The sides negotiated all day Friday in Washington D.C. and would not comment on the discussions.

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It’s been more than 30 years since the last work stoppage at New Jersey Transit. But if union workers and the organization can’t come to terms on a new contract before March 13, a strike will likely occur — and will have impacts of epic proportions on New Jersey residents.

Both sides say they don't want a work stoppage, but if negotiations on wages and healthcare are not successful during a Friday mediation session in Washington D.C., the likelihood of a strike later this month increases.

New Jersey Transit and its 11 unions, made up of more than 4,000 employees, have not had a new contract since 2011. A 90-day “cooling-off” period was implemented in December, but runs out at 12:01 a.m. March 13.

Reached by phone midday Friday during a break in the negotiations, Dean Devita, Secretary-Treasurer for the Director of Commuter and Passenger Railroads, said at the moment there was no plan for further negotiations after Friday. He noted, “We don’t want to leave without an agreement today. We’ll stay today, tomorrow… whatever it takes.”

New Jersey Transit’s workers last had a rail strike in 1983, which lasted 34 days, the organization told Patch. The difference between that strike and the one that could impact commuters this month, however, is drastic.

According to an archived report in the New York Times, some 70,000 daily rail passengers were affected by the strike in 1983.

The modern day impacts of a strike, however, are much more severe.

NJ Transit officials say in the event of a strike, highway backups of more than 20 miles heading into Manhattan are possible. More than 10,000 cars per hour will be on the roadways during peak travel times, officials said.

According to NJT officials, approximately 105,000 customers use the rail lines today just to head into New York City. In 2015, NJT had its highest annual ridership ever, with more than 135,000 customers using the rail lines daily for intra and interstate travel, NJT said.

That number gets even higher in 2016, as NJT has projected a similar number of passengers system wide, but a 2.2-percent increase over 2015, or nearly 3,000 more riders.

'Cripple' Freight Industry

In a Friday blog post by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the organization noted a strike would "cripple" the area's freight trains which carry products on the same rails used by New Jersey Transit. The blog made three major points of how dire the situation would be if a work stoppage occurred.

From the blog:

• Bayway Refinery would shut down. This refinery, the second largest on the east coast, converts crude oil that comes through the port into gasoline, jet fuel and heating oil that is then transported to customers up and down the east coast. Bayway is also a major producer of plastics, but without the ability to move goods, workers will be left with nothing to do.
• Hazardous materials would be sitting — illegally — in rail cars. As industry insiders said, there are plenty of good reasons why safety regulations don’t allow hazardous materials to sit in rail cars.
• Restarting freight movement will take two to three times longer than the strike itself. “Paralyzing is probably a mild term,” said Steven Friedland, President of Short Line Data Systems Inc. “It takes time to untie that knot, and every major industry in New Jersey south of Philadelphia will be affected.”

See related: N.J. Transit Strike Looming, Union Announces

The union and NJT are at odds over wages and healthcare costs, a drastic difference from the early 1980’s strike which occurred after individual rail lines were combined into a larger organization, then known as Conrail.

Union workers are seeking pay increases of 2.5-percent annually to go along with a 2.5-percent contribution to healthcare costs, as recommended by the President’s Emergency Board.

NJT is asking workers to pay between 10 and 20-percent of their salaries to healthcare contributions, which would likely eliminate any pay increase, the union said.

The travel system announced a contingency plan that would use only buses to serve customers, but ridership would be whittled down by 60-percent.

Full graphs on the contingency plan can be seen here:

See related: N.J. Transit Strike: 23-Mile Backups, 10K More Cars Per Hour, Officials Say