New Jersey Transit, Rail Workers Union Trying To Avoid Strike
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- New Jersey Transit and its rail workers unions will pick up negotiations Monday in an effort to prevent the agency's first strike since 1983. If there's no deal this week, a work stoppage on the rails could begin as early as March 13, impacting about 160,000 NJT riders, including those in the Philadelphia area.
Union spokesman Steve Burkert says they don't really want to stop working.
"Absolutely not, that would be a last resort for us and they would have to force us into that," he said. "We have done everything in our power to negotiate."
But if a strike happens, a lot of New Jersey Transit commuters will have to scramble. Those who travel to Trenton to take NJT's Northeast Corridor Line to New York City will have to find another way. And Atlantic City Line riders may have to trade in the rails for the roads.
A strike wouldn't affect buses, so NJT says they would beef up service on its 554 bus route, which runs between Lindenwold and Atlantic City.
Light Rail service will also keep running, so the River Line will still operate between Camden and Trenton. But the agency warns of crowding and delays.
New Jersey Transit rail workers have been working without a deal since 2011.