NEW JERSEY — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) have ratified a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement with NJ Transit, ending a protracted contract battle that spanned five years and included a strike that temporarily halted service last month.
The agreement, which covers the years 2020 through 2027, was reached on May 18 and addresses wages and working conditions for approximately 450 NJ Transit locomotive engineers. Voting concluded Tuesday, with 89% of eligible BLET members participating. Of those, 95% voted in favor of the deal.
The new contract includes significant pay raises for engineers—previously the lowest-paid among major commuter railroads in the U.S.—bringing hourly wages to over $50. Engineers will also receive retroactive pay and a signing bonus. NJ Transit engineers had not received a raise since 2020 despite rising inflation.
“This is a member-driven union,” said BLET National President Mark Wallace. “Our members told us through an earlier vote that they wanted parity with engineers at Amtrak and other passenger railroads that share the same train platforms. Now, through this vote, our members have told us that the terms agreed to are both fair and acceptable.”
The contract is scheduled for a final vote by NJ Transit’s board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, June 11.
The agreement follows years of contentious negotiations that included mediation by the National Mediation Board, two Presidential Emergency Boards, and NJ Transit’s first strike in over four decades. NJ Transit has seen its engineer workforce decline from nearly 500 to 450 in recent months, as engineers left for better-paying positions at other railroads. Training a replacement can take up to two years and cost around $250,000.
“All along we’ve said we didn’t want to be the highest paid engineers, we only wanted equal pay for equal work,” said Tom Haas, NJT engineer and BLET General Chairman. “This agreement gives us the pay raises we needed, but also was done without a major hit to NJT’s budget and should not require a fare hike for passengers.”
NJ Transit President & CEO Kris Kolluri also issued a statement following the ratification.
“I am pleased to announce the ratification of a new contract by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), representing a fair and fiscally responsible agreement for our locomotive engineers, NJ TRANSIT, our customers, and the taxpayers of New Jersey,” Kolluri said. “We adhered to the established bargaining pattern and, through constructive negotiations, secured meaningful concessions that enabled us to fund the wage increases sought by BLET members without exceeding our current budget.”
Kolluri thanked NJ Transit customers for their patience during last month’s strike and praised the agency’s staff for supporting riders “under some of the most difficult circumstances our agency has faced.”
The new contract is expected to help NJ Transit retain and attract qualified engineers while improving labor stability and service reliability for commuters.
