NJ Transit engineers face long road to strike

NJ Transit engineers are due to vote this month whether to strike amid a yearslong collective bargaining standstill, but federal law that imposes strict procedures on rail worker strikes could delay any job action for months.

The state has sought a contract with the NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen that reflects the ones awarded to other NJ Transit bargaining units. But the NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers has said they need larger raises to prevent an exodus of their members to other railways, like Amtrak or the Long Island Rail Road, where the union says pay is higher — a claim the agency called “disingenuous.”

“The BLET is the only union to not accept these terms. The BLET asking to be treated differently than 91% of NJ Transit’s rail union employees, and 95% of all NJ Transit’s unionized employees combined. Demanding to receive exceedingly more than every other union who signed the contract is simply out of step and not consistent with the rest of the state,” NJ Transit said in a statement.

The union said wage increases also should reflect the strict training and high-stress work environments locomotive engineers are subject to.

“The pattern is with other commuter railroads and other engineers. It’s not with people that sell tickets or clean rails,” said Jamie Horowitz, a union spokesperson. “More power to them if they got a 2% raise. It doesn’t take two years and a quarter-million dollars to train somebody to do those other jobs, and they don’t have the stress levels and responsibilities a locomotive engineer has.”

NJ Transit conductors must complete training of similar length, though the length of their training has increased dramatically in recent years, from five months in 2018 to up to 22 months this year, according to current and archived job postings.

Fourteen of the agency’s 15 unions have agreed to 2% wage hikes that would increase to 3% in the fifth year through a process called pattern bargaining, which seeks to issue similar terms among bargaining units to create stability and uniformity in public pay.

An agency spokesperson said NJ Transit had set aside $22.3 million for retroactive pay increases, adding their proposal would raise average engineer pay from $97,000 to $109,212 over the contract’s term.

NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett has cited the need to be financially responsible at a time when NJ Transit faces a staggering fiscal cliff without a clear funding solution.

Agency officials project NJ Transit revenue — primarily a shifting mix of fares, New Jersey Turnpike Authority funds, and other diversions — will fall $119.4 million short of expenses in the fiscal year that begins next July, and the annual deficit is expected to rise to $917.8 million in the following year.

Federal hurdles

Because rail service interruptions can significantly affect commerce, including across state lines, railway worker strikes are subject to regulation beyond what’s leveled at peers in other sectors. Commuter railways face even longer waits before they can strike.

For one, national rail unions must initiate strike votes for local units, and even if that vote succeeds, rail unions are subject to lengthy waiting periods — including some that are indefinite — before they can begin striking.

Under the Railway Labor Act, labor disputes first go to the National Mediation Board, which can hold mediation indefinitely if it believes there’s some chance of resolution. New Jersey’s locomotive engineers have been in mediation with the state for more than three years, and they’ve been working under an expired contract since 2019.

Once released from mediation, the parties can enter binding arbitration proceedings, but only if both agree. If at least one refuses, the timer starts on a 30-day waiting period during which neither party can break the status quo.

At that point, the parties or a governor in a state serviced by a railway can ask the U.S. president to form an emergency board to make recommendations to resolve the dispute.

The president must grant the first request, and the emergency board creates its own 120-day lockout for disputes involving commuter railways.

Either party — or, again, an affected governor — can request a second presidential emergency board if no settlement is reached in 120 days. The second board can enforce the status quo for up to 120 days, though it could end that lockout sooner. The president is not required to grant the second request.

While New Jersey courts have historically issued orders ending strikes by public sector workers, they have no ability to enjoin strikes by unions under the Railway Labor Act.

A long wait ahead?

The timeline of any potential rail strike will remain unclear while mediation is ongoing, and it’s not clear when or if the National Mediation Board will release negotiators and allow the process to move forward.

Even if the board releases negotiators, the union will likely be unable to launch a legal strike for months.

The Railway Labor Act requires President Joe Biden to form the initial presidential advisory board if one is requested, meaning the union’s first chance to strike will come no earlier than five months after any mediation board action.

If Biden agrees to form a second presidential advisory board, the process would stretch for up to nine months.

Union officials hope an overwhelming strike vote — the vote is set to close on Aug. 31 — and a broader furor over NJ Transit’s $440 million lease for new office space might convince the board to act quickly. The 25-year lease at 2 Gateway Center in Newark has drawn criticism over its price, which Northjersey.com reported was the most expensive among the bids the agency received.

“People are angry, and this office building makes them even angrier,” Horowitz said. “They have $440 million for luxury penthouse views, but they can’t have a dime for their train crews.”

Corbett dismissed that attack, arguing it is a tactic meant to pit management against union workers.

“The lease is a whole separate issue,” he told NJ Spotlight News earlier this week.