CLEVELAND, August 20 — The following is an excerpt from a press release by the New Jersey Transit Rail Labor Coalition. To download a PDF of the entire release, please go to: https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/NJT_PEB248_Report_press_release.pdf
PEB 248 Recommends New Jersey Transit Contract Terms
Presidential Emergency Board 248 has issued its recommendations to settle the four year contract dispute between New Jersey Transit and the Rail Labor Coalition of fourteen unions representing 4,300 union workers.
The recommendations on the major issues of wages and health insurance contributions fall much closer to the terms proposed by the Coalition than those proposed by New Jersey Transit, although the Board did backload its wage recommendations to accommodate the railroad’s budgetary concerns.
The PEB found that the Coalition proposals were appropriately based on settlements in the commuter industry, while the company’s unprecedented reliance on a state worker concessionary contract was not persuasive.
Coalition spokespersons said, “The Presidential Emergency Board, composed of three veteran, distinguished neutrals, has proposed terms that represent a reasonable compromise approach to settlement. We sincerely hope that New Jersey Transit will now take this opportunity to bring this protracted dispute to an end.”