From the New York Post,
High-stake talks between striking train engineers and New Jersey’s huge commuter railroad picked up again Saturday — a day after the union-led walkout brought the state’s transportation system to a screeching halt.
The strike action kicked off Friday when roughly 400 locomotive engineers walked off the job after marathon contract talks tied to a pay dispute abruptly stalled, triggering the first strike to hit the major transport system in more than 40 years.
The Post notes,
The agency said the engineers currently make $135,000 on average and that management had offered a deal that would yield an average salary of $172,000.
But that’s not enough,
The union has said NJ Transit needs to pay its engineers a wage that matches those at other commuter railroads, including Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad.
But,
The state has argued it can’t afford the pay hike because 14 other unions that negotiate separate labor contracts with the agency would then demand higher wage rates, too.
The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) weighs in this weekend on the strike under the headline, “New Jersey Commuters Get Mugged.” The editors point out,Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy last year imposed a 2.5% surcharge on the state’s 9% corporate tax rate–which he called a Corporate Transit Fee.
The WSJ notes,
The Garden State now has the highest corporate tax rate in the country.
But, it’s never ever enough. The Journal reminds that Florida and Texas limit the power of public labor unions and do not allow for strikes.
In the most recent numbers available, New Jersey ranks #4 among states in population lost. Texas ranks #1 and Florida #4 in states gaining population.
2025 is an election year in New Jersey. Plan accordingly.
