New Jersey transit strike: Tentative deal reached, trains will resume operation

A tentative agreement has been reached to end New Jersey's first statewide transit strike in more than 40 years, according to the union representing the engineers and train operators.

Trains are set to resume operations on Tuesday, according to NJ Transit. The union had previously indicated trains would resume on Monday.

"We will have a deal. Strike will end," the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) said in a statement.

Terms of the agreement, which have not yet been released, will be sent to the union's 450 members who work as locomotive engineers or are trainees for their consideration, according to the union.

The BLET will begin to conduct a ratification vote by electronic ballot for participating members and the agreement will also be voted on by the NJ Transit board at their next meeting on June 11.

"While I won't get into the exact details of the deal reached, I will say that the only real issue was wages and we were able to reach an agreement that boosts hourly pay beyond the proposal rejected by our members last month and beyond where we were when NJ Transit's managers walked away from the table Thursday evening," Tom Haas, the general chairman for BLET, said in a statement.

The strike, which lasted just three days, shut down trains on Friday, leaving some 350,000 commuters scrambling to find other modes of transportation.

BLET members had been threatening to go on strike unless NJ Transit officials and the union were able to agree on new contract terms and conditions for the workers who drive the trains.

The day before the strike commenced, a deal with the union was close but not reached, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at the time.

Both sides met for eleventh-hour negotiations to avert the strike on Thursday, in addition to a meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday with the National Mediation Board, but no resolution was reached.

Union leaders said during a press conference on May 9 that it's been five years since train engineers working for NJ Transit have received a pay increase.

"Reasonable people would vote for an agreement that is fair," BLET National President Mark Wallace said at the time.

BLET chairman Haas said during the same news conference that engineers working for NJ Transit earn an average salary of $113,000 a year. If NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average salary of $170,000 a year for engineer operators, then "we got a deal," Haas said.

Following the news of the tentative strike deal, Kolluri said supplemental bus service and park and rides will be operational as planned on Monday, along with the light rail.

"If you can work from home, please do that one more time tomorrow," he added.

NJ Gov. Murphy celebrated the agreement, saying, "I am delighted to report that NJ Transit and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have reached a tentative agreement and as a result, New Jersey's first rail strike in decades has officially come to an end."