The three-day strike by New Jersey transit workers affects approximately 100,000 commuters every day.
Three days after the start of a strike by New Jersey Transport employees, an agreement has been reached for members to return to work, officials announced Sunday.
In a statement, Tom Haas, the locomotive engineer representing 450 New Jersey Transit Engineers and the head of the Train Brotherhood, said that an agreement was reached to end the strike, affecting around 100,000 passengers every day over a three-day period.
“The only real issue is wages, and last month we were able to reach an agreement to increase hourly wages beyond the proposals rejected by members when NJ Transit managers left the table on Thursday evening,” Haas said.
Details of the compromise were announced at a press conference on Sunday led by Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri.
Transit and The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (Blet) “officially concluded New Jersey’s first rail strike in decades,” Murphy said.
The contract still requires ratification by members. The NJ Transit Committee is scheduled to vote for the contract on June 11th. “I have a high degree of confidence that this will sail,” Murphy said at a press conference.
New Jersey
Koruli, who also attended the press conference, said he believes the agreement will address wage issues and other concerns from the union.
“The past is the past, but I think we learned some important lessons about what the membership wanted. I think the union this time did a really good job of clarifying their position,” he told reporters.
Kolluri added that both parties could “go by point” during the negotiation process, discussing certain provisions that are important to the union, and “I think we were able to address their satisfaction for New Jersey taxpayers.”
According to the union, Congress has the authority to intervene and block strikes, but has chosen not to.
“This should be a lesson from other railway conflicts. We would have gained nothing by kicking cans running around them. By causing a strike, we will promote reconciliation rather than stone,” Brett’s national President Mark Wallace said in a statement.
The state’s first strike in 40 years was the culmination of months of negotiations between NJ Transit and the union. In March, 87% of the union members voted for the agreement.
On Friday, May 16th, New Jersey Transit employees left their jobs and officially launched a strike in which all the state’s commuter rail lines were closed.
The strike was sure hundreds of thousands of people if they could work on Monday.
Officials say these commuters will need to find alternative modes of transportation as rail services will not resume until Tuesday.
“This is a very good outcome to provide an understatement this year,” Murphy said.
The proposed compromise is “fair for New Jersey Transit employees, but affordable for commuters and taxpayers,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
