New Jersey Transit Workers Strike

A New Jersey Transit worker strike is snarling movement into New York City this morning for an estimated 350,000 commuters, but will also impact travelers into and out of Newark International Airport who normally access via the train. Neither Amtrak nor the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) trains will cross honor tickets for NJ Transit. 

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen went on strike at midnight last night. They are seeking better wages and working conditions, specifically they seek parity with their counterparts at the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North. They have been working without a contract since 2019.

Negotiations on Wednesday looked positive and NJT executives have claimed the parties were close to a deal. That deal was not reached by the midnight deadline. Negotiations will resume Sunday morning.

NJ Transit has advised regular commuters to work from home today and expects to have a contingency plan in place by Monday. Those plans, which include adding charter buses to regular NJ Transit bus service, are similar to the plans the train line put in service 42 years ago, the last time customers faced a transit strike. NJ Transit has cautioned the contingency will only accommodate about 20 percent of regular NJT commuters.