© Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Trenton, New Jersey) – New Jersey Transit’s executive board is set to meet Wednesday to discuss and try to prevent a potential strike by engineers and trainmen. This summer NJ Transit has been dealing with delays, cancellations and outages in the midst of the summer heat almost daily. The nearly 500 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) employed by New Jersey Transit voted unanimously to call a strike, which would cripple transportation.
BLET National President Eddie Hall said, “NJT has nearly a half-billion dollars for lavish new office space, 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 trains.”
NJ Transit leaders say they hope to avoid any kind of walk out or slow down.
