NJ Transit, Unions Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert Strike

Union officials and NJ Transit negotiators announced they had reached a tentative contract deal, averting what could have been its first strike since 1983.  

"You can all smile now," Stephen Burkert, a spokesman for the labor coalition, told reporters shortly before 7 p.m. Friday. "We have reached a tentative agreement. Thankfully for the commuters of NJ transit the crisis is averted. We thank our members for having faith in us in solidarity. We're going home to our families."

The agreement means trains will keep running after the union's strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Sunday — a relief for the transit agency's 160,000 rail commuters, many of whom finished the work week without knowing how they'd get to work Monday.

NJ Transit admitted its contingency plans would have only been able to accommodate 38 percent of the commuters who ride into Penn Station. 

No financial details of the contract were immediately released. Gov. Chris Christie, speaking at NJ Transit headquarters shortly after the deal was announced, said both sides accomplished their goals.

"Everybody starts a negotiation at a certain point and has an end point in their mind," he said. "And I think both sides think they have done very well."

Christie also wouldn't explain how NJ Transit would pay for the wage increase, though he ruled out fare hikes until mid-2017. (The agency had previously said it could not afford a substantial raise for workers without raising fares.)

The governor had taken heat from the media and the public because he left the state earlier in the week to celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife. He said at the news conference that he had cut that trip short in order to deal with the contract negotiations.

The 4,200 rail workers, who are represented by 11 different unions, had been without a contract since 2011.