As New Jersey Transit engineers went on strike early Friday morning, more than 300,000 commuters were left affected and trying to find alternatives to get to work.
The strike, which involves union members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), comes after “months of negotiations” between New Jersey Transit and BLET, according to the New York Times.
Per the outlet, New Jersey Transit CEO Kris Kolluri explained that while “on a typical weekday, about 70,000 commuters ride NJ Transit trains into New York City,” the strike would affect roughly 350,000 people who use the NJ Transit:
On a typical weekday, about 70,000 commuters ride NJ Transit trains into New York City. But Kris Kolluri, the agency’s chief executive, said the shutdown of the train lines would affect all 350,000 NJ Transit riders, including those who take buses and light rail.
One commuter, Leslie Bell, told the outlet he had been “stuck at the station in Trenton, trying to get to his job as a supervisor at a WaWa store in Newark.”
Bell, who was faced with purchasing a $110 ticket on an Amtrak train to get to work, expressed that it was “ridiculous.”
“I can’t pay $110 to get to Newark on Amtrak, plus all the tickets are sold out,” Bell told the outlet. “This is ridiculous.”
Another person, Matt Stratton, who works as a “banker from Glen Ridge,” told the outlet he has “no idea” how he is commuting to work on Monday and added that commuters “just had a fare increase.”
“I have no idea how I’m getting to work on Monday,” Stratton said. “I’m actively looking into figuring out what to do.”
Jamie Horwitz, a spokesperson for BLET and the union members, explained that “the base wage” for New Jersey Transit engineers in roughly $89,000, MarketWatch reported. The union members are requesting a “$10 hourly wage increase”:
The base wage for an N.J. Transit engineer is $89,000, according to Jamie Horwitz, a spokesperson for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and union members are seeking a $10 hourly wage increase. Median engineer pay is $105,000, and the union says members have not received a raise in at least five years.
“We’re tired of being at the bottom,” BLET President Mark Wallace told the outlet. “We don’t have to be at the top; we just want to be close.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) issued a statement, describing it as “unfortunate” that the engineers had “opted to disrupt the lives” of thousands of New Jersey Transit riders “rather than continue working through ongoing negotiations.
“It is unfortunate that locomotive engineers have opted to disrupt the lives of 350,000 NJ Transit riders rather than continue working through ongoing negotiations,” Murphy said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we are enacting contingency plans and ask all New Jerseyans to be patient as we adjust during this challenging time. Meanwhile, we are ready to restart negotiations immediately to reach a fair deal for both workers and taxpayers and bring this strike to a swift end.”
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