TRENTON, NEW JERSEY — New Jersey Transit and a union representing its rail engineers will have more time to work out a labor dispute under an executive order President Joe Biden signed Wednesday.
The White House said in a statement that the president authorized the creation of a Presidential Emergency Board aimed at helping the state’s transit agency and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen resolve disputes over a labor agreement.
The president’s action was required under law because one of the parties requested it, according to the White House. The announcement heads off the potential for a strike for now.
Within two months, the board will get settlement dispute offers from both sides and then write to the president selecting an offer deemed to be most reasonable, according to the White House. The report isn’t binding, but the party whose offer is not selected would be prohibited by law from receiving certain benefits if there’s a strike, the White House said.
New Jersey Transit operates buses and rail in the state. The labor dispute goes back to 2019 when the engineers’ contract expired.
In an emailed statement, NJ Transit said it would be March 2025 before any strike could occur after the White House’s action Wednesday.
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the union’s national president released a statement after the executive order:
This evening President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appointed Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) No. to investigate the labor dispute between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and New Jersey Transit (NJT).
This declaration by President Biden comes just prior to the expiration of a 30-day cooling-off period that began on June 25. Under the Railway Labor Act, either party would have been able to exercise self-help (strike by the union or lockout by NJT management) had a PEB not been established.
The contract dispute has been under federal National Mediation Board (NMB) sponsored mediation for nearly three years. NJT’s locomotive engineers have been seeking a new labor agreement since October 2019 – five long years without a raise. NJT’s engineers are currently the lowest paid engineers working in commuter service in the nation.
“This labor dispute has dragged on for far too long,” said BLET National President Eddie Hall. “NJT has a half-billion dollars for lavish new office space for their executives, they recently raised fares by 15 percent. Meanwhile, they haven’t offered their engineers competitive wages with other passenger railroads. It’s time for NJT to make a fair offer and settle this dispute voluntarily. Otherwise, our members will be walking picket lines rather than operating
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