JUNE 16, 2015, 1:05 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015, 1:09 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The latest round of talks between NJ Transit and its labor unions has broken down, signaling increased tensions between the two sides over pay and benefits. Union members have been working without a new contract for four years, union leaders said.
The next step in the process requires intervention from President Obama, who must create a three-member Presidential Emergency Board to keep the sides negotiating and prevent a strike or labor lockout that could cripple the region’s economy. Nearly 955,000 people ride NJ Transit buses, trains and light rail every workday.
NJ Transit and its unions started negotiating through the National Mediation Board in 2011, soon after the old contract expired. As the process dragged on, more unions joined in, eventually creating a coalition that includes all 17 of NJ Transit’s unions, together representing 4,263 workers, said Thomas Roth, a labor consultant hired to represent the unions in the next round of negotiations. The final union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, joined the coalition last week, Roth said.
“To have all the unions that represent all the workers on the property, it’s very rare,” said Roth, who has been involved in labor disputes for 40 years. “In fact this is the first time we’ve ever had a coalition like this.”
After years of negotiation went nowhere, the unions asked the National Mediation Board to release them from talks. On Monday the board agreed, an indication that the sides are so far apart on subjects including salary increases, benefits and work rules that an agreement now is impossible.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/contract-talks-break-down-between-nj-transit-labor-unions-1.1356514
And yet commuter costs just keep on rising unchecked, another 11% this year