New Jersey Transit failed to reach a labor agreement with
railroad-worker unions after a day of negotiations, amid a looming strike
scheduled to begin March 13 that threatens to strand tens of thousands of
Manhattan-bound commuters.
The sides met in Washington on Friday in an attempt to
resolve a dispute over wages and benefits. Talks ended about 3:30 p.m. because
the mediation board office was closing, said Steve Burkert, a spokesman for the
unions. They will meet again on March 7 in Newark, New Jersey, he said.
Burkert said the sides met face to face and each offered
some ground. He characterized the talks as “amicable” and said “there’s never
been hostility.”
“The whole game plan was up for discussion and both sides
pushed in,” he said. He declined to specify proposals.
Gary Dellaverson, hired to negotiate for New Jersey
Transit, declined to speak to a reporter at the board office. Dellaverson is a
New York-based attorney and former finance chief for the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority. Nancy Snyder, a railroad spokeswoman, confirmed in an
e-mail the schedule for the next round of talks. Brian Murray, a spokesman for
Governor Chris Christie, declined to comment in an e-mail.
Labor contracts expired in 2011 for 4,200 unionized rail
workers. An emergency negotiating board appointed by President Barack Obama had
recommended that New Jersey Transit adopt the final offer made by the Rail
Labor Coalition, representing 11 unions, at a cost of $183 million. The offer
called for a six-and-a-half-year contract with annual raises of 1.5 percent to
3.5 percent and a maximum 5 percent annual health-care contribution, according
to the presidential board report.
New Jersey Transit said the state couldn’t afford the
recommendation. The agency had offered a 7 1/2 year contract that skipped
raises for 2011, awarded $1,000 lump-sum payments for 2012 and had annual
increases of 1 percent to 2.5 percent. It wanted employees to cover as much as
20 percent of their medical costs.
On Thursday, the agency released a strike-contingency
plan that could accommodate only about 38 percent of Manhattan-bound commuters.
It plans to establish park-and-ride lots so rail commuters can transfer to
buses or the PATH subway to reach the city. The buses will operate on a
first-come, first-served basis on weekdays. For riders who will be shut out,
the agency is urging employers to allow telecommuting and a four-day work week.
Funding for New Jersey Transit in the annual state budget
has fallen to about $33 million from $350 million in 2005 when adjusted for
inflation, according to a report released Thursday by New Jersey for Transit, a
coalition pushing for more spending. The drop has led the nation’s
third-largest commuter system to raise fares five times since 2002, and divert
money for capital improvements to cover operating costs, the group said.
New Jersey railroad employees last walked off the job in
1983, a stoppage that lasted for more than a month.
Source: Bloomberg
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