BY WALTER ELLIOTT
NEWARK – The 450 BLET union train engineers, as of press time, are reviewing the contract its leadership and New Jersey Transit executives had tentatively agreed to May 18 – while helping to bring NJT’s eight commuter rail line operations back to normal May 20.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and NJTransit announced that they had reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement at 8 p.m. May 18 – 68 hours after NJTransit’s first strike in 42 years took effect at 12:01 a.m. May 16.
By “tentative,” BLET members from its Newark, Hoboken and Dover divisions have to approve or reject the contract by electronic vote. NJTransit’s Board of Directors are to vote up or down at their June 11 meeting.
The ratification should not be taken for granted. About 87 percent of union members on April 15 rejected a contract respective leadership had agreed to. This rejection happened 30 days before the 12:01 a.m. May 16 strike deadline.
Please note that, when 12:01 a.m. Friday’s deadline had passed, engineers who were still operating commuter trains continued to the end of their run. Those “Night Owl” runs who start after Midnight did not.
NJTransit’s Ticket Vending Machines stopped selling commuter rail tickets and passes until after 12:01 a.m. May 20. Existing valid rail passes and tickets were cross-honored on NJTransit Light Rail (their engineers are under the Bus Division and a different union) and Buses for the strike’s duration.
The public carrier’s ABC alternative plan – taking rush hour commuters from five designated rail stations on buses to earmarked PATH, bus and ferry stations – was only implemented Monday.
Municipal rush hour jitneys meanwhile picked up and dropped off riders at designated stops. Maplewood’s jitney, for example, ran to the Irvington Bus Terminal so riders could transfer to or from the No. 107 bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The Port Authority of NY and NJ and Amtrak did not cross-honor but added their trains’ frequency. The PA added 15 min. free shuttle buses between Newark Penn Station and Newark Liberty International Airport’s monorail stop. Amtrak had more of its trains stop at the EWR transfer station.
Coach USA Community 77, Yankee’s Boxcar and other private bus carriers did not cross-honor but had extra buses on standby. NJT hired Academy to run Monday’s ABC shuttle buses.
MTA Metro North cross-honored their Pascack Valley and Port Jervis riders’ tickets and passes on their Hudson and Harlem lines – once they got there. NJTransit operated those Metro North’s “West of Hudson Service” but were also struck.
“Local Talk” presumes similar arrangements were made by SEPTA and PATCO absorbing additional riders at Trenton, West Trenton and Camden County stations.
The above said were to help absorb 20 percent of what NJTransit estimated 100,000. NJTransit’s bus divisions were left to shoulder some of the rest where “work from home” could not apply.
“Local Talk” found Friday, May 16 and Monday, May 19 having a weekend-like feel. There were some additional bus, light rail and PATH riders those days – but about all of NJTransit’s Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton line stations and parking lots were vacant.
A union picket line of 15 people – and about 10 media members – were consistently seen alongside the Market Street side of NJTransit’s new headquarters. “Transit” moved from One Penn Plaza, east of Newark Penn Station, over the winter.
Newark Penn Station, owned by Amtrak, was an exception. It was strange to see its destination boards reading only Amtrak trains.
“Local Talk” was on a No. 25 bus along Springfield Avenue Monday morning when the bus garage dispatcher made a radio announcement to drivers – and was overheard by riders. Drivers were reminded to count, when full, standees and riders left behind by overcrowding.
Both sides said that Monday, May 19 was needed for systemwide track inspection and preparing train sets. “Local Talk” was aboard the 8:57 a.m. M&E departure from Newark Broad Street to East Orange Station. A pizza box had remained discarded on the overhead rack and a “No Trains This Platform” sign remained in place at one of East Orange’s stairways.
The job action had been a long time coming.
The engineers had not had a new contract since 2019. Both sides had gone through several “cooling off” periods and two Presidential railroad boards. They were called back to the table by federal mediators in Washington, D.C. May 12 – where they stopped negotiations May 15 and resumed talks at 10 a.m. May 17 and 1 p.m. May 18.
It is not clear whether Haas or his predecessor had consented, but enough engineers did not report to work on the 2023 federal Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday observance to suspend NJTransit’s commuter rail system that Monday.
Both NJTransit CEO and President Kris Kolluri and BLET General Chairman Tom Haas said that the negotiations, impasse and agreement came down to wages.
Haas and BLET said that NJTransit’s engineers are the lowest paid in the New York City Metropolitan area. Haas has said that some of his members left for higher paying jobs at MTA LIRR-Metro North, Amtrak and freight railroads.
Kolluri, who succeeded Kevin Corbett Jan. 15, said that he wanted to balance the engineers’ needs with riders and taxpayers. He once said that the carrier could not accept a “17 percent wage increase” without “fare hikes, more taxes and reduced service.”
Gov. Phil Murphy’s point man did say on Saturday afternoon that both sides had the contract “95 percent” settled. Both he and Haas said that their compatriots were cordial and not rude to each other.
What details of the new contract include 2.75 percent annual raises over the next five years. BLET discarded the “Me Too” clause in the contract for NJTransit. Transit would otherwise be obligated to make the same wage increases with its other unions.
The strike could have been a whole lot worse. NJTransit came to a contract agreement with its bus drivers union May 13.
