Members of the railroad engineers union for New Jersey Transit went on strike right after midnight Friday morning, crippling a system that around 350,000 people rely on, officials said.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said that its around 450 members in New Jersey Transit were walking off the job at 12:01 a.m., in a dispute over pay.
Around an hour before that deadline, Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Transit President & CEO Kris Kolluri told reporters that they wanted a fair deal for the union.
But they also said that they could not agree to a preferential deal that would cause the other unions in the transit system to demand the same, which Murphy said would cause costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
New Jersey Transit “is facing a sobering fiscal reality,” Murphy said.
The union cited low pay as a top issue.
It said that its members at New Jersey Transit are the lowest-paid locomotive engineers of any major passenger railroads in the country.
“They have gone without a raise for six years and have been seeking a new contract since October 2019,” the union said.
New Jersey Transit said that the strike could affect 350,000 people per day, and MetLife Stadium this week warned that there would be no New Jersey Transit bus or rail service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday.
The union said that picket lines were set to begin at 4 a.m. Friday, including at Penn Station in Manhattan.
The union said that the transit agency has millions to spend on a new headquarters in Newark and gave up millions in a fare holiday last year.
“They have money for penthouse views and pet projects, just not for their front-line workers,” BLET National President Mark Wallace said in a statement. “Enough is enough. We will stay out until our members receive the fair pay that they deserve.”
Murphy and Kolluri said they are open to continue negotiations at any time. They urged people able to work from home Friday to do so, and said there would be extra bus service and additional park-and-ride areas.
Amtrak and PATH trains, and buses are still running.
The last time there was a strike at New Jersey Transit was in 1983, more than 40 years ago.
