So, like, on the first day of this whole strike thing that’s shutting down NJ Transit trains, Phil Murphy was all like, “Man, this engineers’ strike is, to be honest, a mess they made themselves.” He was talking at this press conference on Friday morning in Monmouth County, saying how there was this “agreement” not too long ago that would have paid engineers the same as those working for the Long Island Railroad. Basically, NJ Transit engineers would be making the same bank as their buddies in the region.
But then, according to Murphy, a “small handful of locomotive engineers” were like, “Nah, we’re out,” and now we got trains just chilling in rail yards. The governor was all about how he’s gonna make a deal that’s best for the state in the long run, even though he’s peacing out of office in eight months. He was like, “I could totally just sign off on some crazy deal in my last year, but nah, not gonna happen.”
This dude Kris Kolluri, the CEO of New Jersey Transit, was saying how despite this strike situation, there’s no real beef between the union and state officials. He mentioned how the engineers are itching to get back to work. “We might not be seeing eye to eye, but at least we’re not throwing chairs at each other,” Murphy added. Meanwhile, the state is relying on Amtrak, PATH trains, light rail, and ferries to help out the 350,000 folks who ride NJ Transit trains every single day.
Now, the “good” news is that this whole mess started on a Friday, which is usually the chillest work day. Kolluri was all optimistic, saying, “We’re like, 95 percent there,” when it comes to reaching a settlement. So, fingers crossed, right? Let’s hope these engineers get back to work soon and we can all get back to our regular train commutes.