NEWARK, N.J. — NJ Transit has rescinded its most recent offer to members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a step backward in the long-running dispute between the agency and union, Northjersey.com reports.
A potential strike or lockout of engineers, who have been working without a contract since 2019, could come as soon as May 15.
In a letter obtained by the news site, NJ Transit officials proposed a new meeting with the union on Monday, March 28. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri told the Northjersey.com, “If the deal we negotiated [that] would have provided an average BLET member $172,000 a year in salary doesn’t make them happen, I want to know what the 372 members who voted down the agreement think is reasonable.”
NJ Transit and the union announced a tentative contract agreement in March, but 87% of those casting ballots in the ratification vote rejected the deal in results announced last week [see “NJ Transit engineers reject contract,” Trains News Wire, April 15, 2025].
NJ Transit has added a page to its website on the negotiations that it says “clarifies several misconceptions” in the long-running disagreement. Among the points from the agency: the NJ Transit bus system does not have the capacity to replace trains during a strike.
Tom Haas, general chairman for the BLET General Committee of Adjustment representing NJ Transit engineers, previously told Northjersey.com that the union did not plan to offer a new proposal, instead asking the agency to address “what the membership sees as shortcomings in the agency’s demands.”
White 14 of NJ Transit’s 15 rail unions have approved new contracts, BLET has sought a separate deal, saying its members are paid lower than engineers at comparable transit agencies in the region. NJ Transit disputes this on its page on negotiations, saying the last offer would have paid its engineers more than those at Metro-North Railroad, the Long Island Railroad, or the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Union members and NJ Transit best watch out. Under the railway labor act POTUS could impose a very harsh contract that would lead to mass resignations. Many might find work at other passenger carriers or freight RRs.
Last post I hope. We must remember Ronald Regan.
Alan I’d rather forget ronald regan. His “trickle down economics” and anti labor agenda are part of the reason we have and orange idiot for a king/dictator today.
WOW!
WOW! Cannot imagine what a sstrike will do to congestion pricing in lower NY city.