Posts tagged Amtrak
NJ Transit CEO rails against union as strike looms
May 8, 2025 // The NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen could strike as early as May 16 if the two sides do not reach an accord. They’ve remained at odds over the level of wage hikes, with engineers seeking increases that would bring their average salary to $190,000, while the agency has pushed for a contract that would bring that wage up to $172,000. “If there’s any citizen, private or government, in this environment who’d get a $25,000 pay raise and say, ‘No, no, that’s not good enough,’ does that sound like a group of people who are grounded in reality, or more importantly, on what is actually happening in the world we live in?” Kolluri told the Assembly’s budget committee. In written responses to questions asked through the Office of Legislative Services, NJ Transit warned it could face cost increases as a result of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, though it said it lacks the information needed to gauge the impact tariffs would have.
NJ Transit engineers threaten strike after rejecting labor deal
April 18, 2025 // "Our number one issue is wages. New Jersey Transit engineers are among the lowest paid in the entire country," said BLET Chairman Tim Haas. "We are significantly behind passenger railroad engineers working in this same market—that is, the New York City area. We're far behind Metro-North, Long Island Railroad, Amtrak, PATH—all these other agencies where the New Jersey Transit engineers are leaving to go and work."
Unionization effort fails at south Sacramento manufacturing plant
March 17, 2025 // Workers voted 838 to 538 against unionizing in an election Thursday. A Siemens spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning. The workers attempted to organize under the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 549 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, in a group called Siemens Workers United.
Union president says Massachusetts commuter rail workers will strike if needed
March 2, 2024 // The Railway Labor Act, Flaherty responded, makes it harder for rail workers to strike, but it doesn’t prohibit a work stoppage if the situation is bad enough. “Keep in mind, we do not want to strike. But when we’re legally able to, we will,” he warned. A Keolis spokesperson pushed back on Flaherty’s assertions, pointing to pay raises that came out negotiations in six of the last seven years. She also said that its not fair to say the union is without a contract, as those agreements exist perpetually under the law, but instead is more accurate to say a consensus hasn’t been reached on a future wage increase.
PHILADELPHIA: SEPTA must negotiate contracts with nearly all its labor unions amid looming financial crisis
September 18, 2023 // The authority projects an annual operating deficit of $240 million beginning next July 1 as the last of its federal pandemic aid is spent, a situation dubbed the “fiscal cliff” that afflicts most transit systems in the United States. Riders have not returned in pre-COVID 19 numbers, and changing travel patterns have accelerated in the last three years. SEPTA and the state’s other public transit agencies are pushing for the legislature to adopt a measure that would give them a greater share of the sales tax to support operations. Uncertainty about finances makes it difficult to say “yes” to increased pay and benefits for TWU Local 234, which represents operators of buses, trolleys, and transit trains, SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richards said Tuesday during a hearing of the state House Transportation Committee at the agency’s headquarters.
‘Dubious at best’: Railroad workers’ rejection of new contracts revives strike fears
October 13, 2022 // For consumers, the result would be empty shelves and delayed shipments during the time of year they rely on them most. Passenger rail systems around the country, including many Amtrak routes, were also gearing up to shut down before negotiations prodded by the Biden administration yielded a tentative deal in mid-September. “It is a trade union principle that if a railroad union goes on strike, other railroad unions honor that strike,” said Peter Kennedy, who directs strategic coordination and research at BMWE. And at this point, reaching a new tentative agreement seems “dubious at best.” Deputy Labor Secretary Seth Harris,
Supply chain concerns grow as deadline for freight rail strike looms
September 15, 2022 // A pair of unions representing 57,000 conductors and engineers say they are willing to strike over quality-of-life issues if they can’t reach a contract deal with rail carriers.
BACKGROUNDER: Potential Railroad Strike
September 14, 2022 // On Friday, September 16, 2022, railroad workers could go on strike. This would effectively shut down the nation’s freight rail system and have spillover effects on commuter rail like Amtrak, which is already canceling long-distance routes. If a strike or lockout occurs, Congress has the ability to intervene and has done so in the past. An economic analysis by the American Association of Railroads using the Federal Railroad Administration’s model found a railroad shutdown could cost our economy $2 billion per day. Similarly, a coalition of agricultural organizations said in a letter to Congress, “Uninterrupted rail service is vital to the American agricultural economy.”