For Immediate Release May 15, 2025 • Contact: Jamie Horwitz, 202-549-4921, jhdcpr@starpower.net
Trains Will Not Run Friday at NJ Transit
No Deal Reached on a Wage Increase Management Walks Out of Contract Talks Forcing a Strike
NEWARK — After 15-hours of non-stop contract talks today, no agreement on a wage increase was reached this evening between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and NJ Transit managers. NJ Transit managers walked out of the talks shortly before 10 p.m. and through their actions have forced a strike despite the transit agency having the funds for a raise. Trains that usually run 365 days a year will come to a stop.
In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act and the previously announced strike deadline of 12:01 a.m., Friday, May 16, NJ Transit’s 450 engineers and trainees will be on strike starting Friday. Picket lines will begin at locations across the system at 4 a.m. Friday. Among the locations being picketed are:
- NJ Transit’s Headquarters in Newark (2 Gateway Center),
- Penn Station in New York City (8th Avenue and 33rd Street entrance),
- The Atlantic City Rail Terminal in Atlantic City
BLET members at NJ Transit have been seeking a new agreement since 2019. They have gone without a raise for five long years. In August 2023, the members of the local union voted unanimously to grant the BLET National President the authority to call a strike when it became lawful to do so and if a deal had not been reached.
“Our members at NJ Transit had the full support of our national union, as well as the Teamsters,” said BLET National President Mark Wallace. “NJ Transit has a half-billion dollars for a swanky new headquarters and $53 million for decorating the interior of that unnecessary building. They gave away $20 million in revenue during a fare holiday last year. They have money for penthouse views and pet projects, just not for their front-line workers. Enough is enough. We will stay out until our members receive the fair pay that they deserve.”
NJT’s engineers make at least $10 less per hour than engineers who work for passenger railroads that share the same train platforms as NJ Transit.
• • •
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen represents 51,000 locomotive engineers and other train service workers at freight and passenger railroads across the United States. The union is a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).