Strike, lockout looming at NJ Transit

No progress has been made in contract talks between the New Jersey Transit Rail Labor Coalition, which consists of 11 unions representing more than 4,000 workers, and NJ Transit. A strike or lockout may occur in Mid-March, leaving tens of thousands of rail passengers without service.

Both sides “pledged to continue negotiating,” according to a Coalition press release, and the current talks have been under way since Presidential Emergency Board 249 selected the unions’ final offer as the “most reasonable.”

Under Section 9a of the Railway Labor Act, the current cooling off period expires 12:01 am on March 13, 2016. “If no deal is reached by then, the unions can strike and/or NJT can lock its workers out,” the Coaltion said. “A strike or lockout can only be ended by the parties agreeing to a settlement, or Congress passing a law to end the dispute, which both sides believe would be highly unlikely.”

The unions adopted the recommendations of PEB 248 as their final offer. The recommendations call for a contract averaging 2.5% per year in increases over roughly six years coupled with what they say are “significant” increases in employee health care contributions. NJT’s offer, according to the Coalition, is for 0.6% net wage increases per year, with workers paying between roughly $400 and $700 more per month in health insurance premiums, which “would all but negate a wage increase,” according to SMART Transportation Division General Chairman Stephen Burkert. “Nobody in their right mind would sign an agreement where they lose money,” he remarked at a Feb. 10 NJT board meeting.

NJ Transit officials have said that wage increases and rising employee health care payments would cost the agency an additional $138 million between now and 2018 and would force a fare hike. NJT fares rose an average 9% beginning in October 2015. The agency—mainly due to the state’s often-contentious politics and the propensity of its politicians to wield their influence—has typically not imposed fare increases for several years’ running, then hit customers with large hikes, rather than make smaller, incremental adjustments based on the cost of living index or other factors.

“The last thing we want is a strike,” a Coaltion spokesperson said. “We have gone five years without a contract. Our settlement proposal is modest and fair. All we are asking is what has been recommended by two expert neutral panels. Congress changed the Railway Labor Act to try to prevent commuter train work stoppages by having a second PEB recommend the most reasonable offer, with penalties imposed on the side that doesn’accept the recommendation. That has almost always led to a settlement. Yet now, NJT refuses. We call upon NJT to end this dispute without disruption to the riding public.”

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who on Feb. 10 dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination for President, is reportedly threating to impose a lockout. Christie is not known for being union-friendly.

The New Jersey Transit Rail Labor Coalition includes every NJT rail union: American Train Dispatchers Association; Power Directors;Train Dispatchers; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division-IBT; Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1573; System Council No. 7, IBEW; National Conference Firemen & Oilers/SEIU; SMART-Mechanical; SMART-Transportation Trainmen; SMART-Transportation Yardmasters; Transport Workers Union; Transportation Communications Union/IAM;ARASA Division; BRC Division; and Clerical Division