新泽西捷运列车工程师于周五发动罢工，导致新泽西和纽约市约35万通勤者不得不寻求其他方式前往目的地或考虑留在家中。

The strike erupted following the breakdown of the latest round of negotiations on Thursday, marking the first instance of industrial action affecting the state's transportation network in over four decades, and stemming from union members' overwhelming rejection of a proposed labor agreement with management last month.

"Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Tom House stated that they submitted their final proposal, only to have it rebuffed and negotiations terminated a mere two hours before the deadline."

新泽西捷运的首席执行官克里斯·科鲁里将目前的僵局描述为“对话暂时中止”。

"Naturally, I'm eager to see these discussions resume promptly," he stated during a joint press conference with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Thursday evening. "Should they be amenable to convening this very evening, I would readily meet with them again; and were they to prefer a meeting tomorrow morning, I would, of course, accommodate that as well. My rationale is that this is an eminently workable issue, hinging primarily on their disposition to identify a resolution."

墨菲强调，达成一项最终协议至关重要，该协议既能公正地对待员工，又能确保新泽西州的通勤者和纳税人能够负担得起。

据工会称，此次宣布是在经过15小时不间断合同谈判后做出的。预计纠察线将于周五凌晨4点开始设立。

As the third-largest public transit system nationwide, New Jersey Transit, which operates an extensive network of buses and trains throughout the state, facilitating approximately one million journeys daily, including crucial commuter routes to New York City, has been brought to a standstill by the strike, suspending all NJ Transit commuter rail lines that link New York Penn Station, situated across the Hudson River, to communities in northern New Jersey, as well as Newark Airport, which has recently been plagued by frequent disruptions due to unrelated issues.

In a recent announcement, the agency unveiled its contingency plan, outlining provisions for supplemental bus services; however, it cautioned commuters that these buses would offer only "severely constrained" capacity, exclusively serving New York commuter bus routes near rail stations, with operations commencing on Monday. The agency is also contracting with private operators to provide additional bus services from key park-and-ride locations during peak weekday hours.

However, authorities have pointed out that the passenger capacity of these buses falls significantly short of current rail levels, accommodating only approximately 20% of the existing rail passenger volume; accordingly, they are urging individuals with the option to work remotely to do so during the strike.

The mere threat of a strike has already resulted in transportation disruptions; amidst this uncertainty, New Jersey Transit has pre-emptively cancelled train and bus services for Shakira's concert at MetLife Stadium on Thursday and Friday.

Representatives from all parties convened in Washington on Monday, engaging with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to deliberate on the matter; mediators were also present during Thursday's negotiations. Corley indicated late Thursday that the Mediation Service had proposed a meeting for Sunday morning to facilitate a resumption of talks.

The persistent sticking point in negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has been the issue of remuneration, with the union advocating for parity in compensation with other passenger rail services in the region for its members; the union, highlighting an average annual salary of $113,000 for its members, posits that an agreement hinges on the agency's Chief Executive Officer, Chris Koluri, consenting to elevate the average annual wage to $170,000.

Conversely, New Jersey Transit's leadership contested the union's figures, asserting that the average total annual compensation for engineers was $135,000, with top earners exceeding $200,000.

In a statement released Thursday evening, Corley and Murphy indicated that the crux of the matter was not whether an agreement on salary increases could be reached, but rather whether such an agreement could be forged without setting a precedent that would trigger demands from other unions for comparable raises, thereby jeopardizing New Jersey Transit's financial stability.

While Congress possesses the authority to intervene, preempt strikes, and compel unions to accept agreements, legislators have not demonstrated the same inclination to avert a nationwide freight rail strike as they did in 2022.

Concurrently, the union at New Jersey Transit has experienced a steady decline in membership, exacerbated by an increasing number of members departing for higher-paying opportunities; the engineering cohort alone has diminished from approximately 500 to 450 in recent months.