NJ Transit Blames Engineers' Union For Friday Train Cancellations

NEW JERSEY — The Garden State's transit authority blames Friday morning's cascade of train cancellations on the engineers' union taking "illegal job action" on the state Juneteenth holiday.

As Patch noted Friday morning, several dozen trains on the Main-Bergen, Montclair-Boonton, North Jersey Coast, Northeast Corridor, and Raritan Valley lines didn't run Friday morning. The Princeton "Dinky" Shuttle is not running all day, either.

NJ Transit "became aware of a rumor" late Thursday that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLE&T) union might initiate an "illegal job action" Friday, having engineers "mark off" work in protest, a representative told Patch.

According to a letter posted by NJ.com, NJ Transit's labor relations department wrote to the union Thursday night and asked leaders to "put out a communication to all Engineers to show up for work (Friday) as they are scheduled/assigned."

Juneteenth was a state holiday in New Jersey before it was a federal holiday; the state recognized it Friday. NJ Transit told Patch that the engineers' union did not sign a contract giving them Friday off of work.

NJ Transit notes that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, or BLE&T, is the only rail union of the 15 unions at NJ Transit not to have signed that agreement.

NJ Transit provided the following statement to Patch on Friday:

NJ TRANSIT became aware of a rumor late in the day yesterday that the locomotive engineers’ union, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLE&T), could potentially initiate an illegal job action today. With today’s engineer call outs at nearly triple the rate of an average weekday, it is clear that this is the result of an illegal job action. NJ TRANSIT is disappointed that the union would perpetrate such an act on the more than 100,000 commuters who depend on NJ TRANSIT rail service every day. We intend to explore all legal remedies in response to this illegal and irresponsible action. We are communicating all impacted trains through every available channel, including text messages, e-mail, through push notifications on the mobile app, on social media and departure vision boards. NJ TRANSIT Rail tickets and passes are being cross-honored by NJ TRANSIT bus, light rail, private carrier buses and PATH at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken and 33rd St.

Patch has reached out to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen for comment.