After four days of standstill, a deal struck between NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has brought the widely-felt New Jersey rail strike to its end. The resolution will see rail service returning tomorrow, much to the relief of the over 100,000 daily riders rattled by the service interruption. This contract conclusion comes after intense discussions culminated over the weekend, with state officials confirming that train service is slated to resume following about a 24-hour preparation period to ensure safety protocols are met.
During a press conference on Sunday evening, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced, "Starting Tuesday, May 20, NJ Transit will once again provide rail service to the more than 100,000 riders who depend on it every, single day." An atmosphere of triumph was evident, albeit the deal remaining tentative pending a vote from BLET members, slated to take place in the approaching days. According to a CBS News New York interview, Murphy added, "This is a very good outcome, but it is also one that was far from inevitable."
The strike originated from a dispute over wages, where BLET insisted on increases citing higher standards of living and discrepancies in pay compared to neighboring transit authorities. NJ Transit, cautious of budgetary constraints, had countered that the requested raises could lead to fare hikes for users. As reported by Gothamist, Tom Haas, BLET's general chairman at NJ Transit, stressed that the new deal "boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month," and found ways "to boost engineers' wages that will help NJT with retention and recruitment, without causing any significant budget issue or requiring a fare increase."
Commuters faced a rocky start to their week, with contingency plans, including bus service from designated park-and-ride lots, intended to keep transportation flowing, albeit imperfectly. Some riders expressed their dissatisfaction, notably at Newark Penn Station where, according to a CBS News New York interview, Fuquan Jackson highlighted the backup plan's insufficiency, saying, "There's other means for us to get back and forth, and they're just not making it possible for us. They're leaving us stranded."
Meanwhile, NJ Transit President Kris Kolluri reassured that safety remains a top priority and urged those who could to work from home on Monday, giving the agency the space needed to "do it right and do it methodically" in terms of safety checks and equipment positioning. Train service will adopt the strike contingency plan Monday, until the full resumption takes place the following day. NJ Transit rail tickets will still be cross-honored on bus and light rail lines, but not by Amtrak, PATH, or ferries.
With service outages costing the agency around $4 million per day, the return to full operations is keenly awaited. The NJ Transit Board is expected to cast their vote on the deal at its next scheduled meeting on June 11, as engineers prepare to resume their roles on the rails, ensuring the steady beat of New Jersy's lifeblood – commuter transit – continues.
