The NJ Transit strike won’t be settled on Saturday, state officials said.
A meeting between state officials and union negotiators with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen ended without a deal Saturday afternoon, NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said.
“Today’s discussions continued to be constructive,” Kolluri said. “We’ve mutually agreed to adjourn formal discussions for the day but will continue talking and look forward to resuming discussions tomorrow.”
The two sides will next meet Sunday, when they are scheduled to speak with the help of a mediator from the National Mediation Board.
James Horowitz, a spokesman for Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, confirmed the union met with state officials Saturday and negotiations will continue. He declined to comment further.
NJ Transit’s last strike was in 1983. It lasted 34 days.
The union wasn’t originally scheduled to meet with NJ Transit on Saturday. But leaders from both sides agreed to resume talks earlier than expected after a Friday night phone call from the national union president, Kolluri said.
Commuters are still advised to plan to stay home and work remotely on Monday, if they can, transit officials said.
The strike began right after midnight on Friday, stopping trains on one of the nation’s largest commuter rail systems.
Wages remain the key sticking point in the negotiation. Engineers are seeking hourly wages on par with their counterparts at other regional commuter railroads.
They also want a higher annual wage increase than other NJ Transit unions received. That could trigger “me too” clauses in other union contracts, requiring the same raise for other workers, NJ Transit officials said.
The engineers argue they have been without pay raises for six years. The union also says engineers should receive a higher annual increase because their job requires more training and responsibility.
NJ Transit has stated engineers already earn an average of $135,000 annually. A rejected deal would have boosted pay to nearly $173,000 by 2027, NJ Transit said.
The union’s latest proposal would boost the top union salaries by 2027, costing taxpayers $1.36 billion over five years, according to NJ Transit officials.
The union disputes the salary figures.
NJ Transit said it will be adding additional buses on Monday, but has said that only about 20% of its 100,000 daily rail customers can be accommodated on bus routes.
The agency is asking its daily rail customers who have the option to work from home to do so during the strike.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Larry Higgs contributed to this report.
NJ Transit
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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.