On Friday, train workers in New Jersey stopped working. About 350,000 people could not take the train to work in New Jersey and New York. They had to find other ways to travel or stay home.

The workers stopped working because they could not agree on Thursday. This is the first time in 40 years they have stopped working. It happened one month after they said "no" to a deal with the bosses.

Tom Haas said, "We gave them our plan. They said no and left. There were two hours left."

The boss of NJ Transit, Kris Kolluri, said they will stop talking for now.

He said, "I want to talk again soon. If they want to meet tonight, I will meet them. If they want to meet tomorrow, I will meet them. I think we can find a way to fix this. But, do they want to find a way?" He said this on Thursday with the Governor of New Jersey.

Murphy said it's important to make a deal. The deal should be good for workers. It should also be cheap for people in New Jersey.

The news came after the workers and bosses talked for 15 hours, said the union. Workers will probably start to protest at 4 a.m. on Friday.

NJ Transit has trains and buses in New Jersey. Many people use them to go to New York City. Now, the trains are not working. This stops people from traveling between New Jersey and New York City, and to the Newark airport.

The company said they have plans to use more buses. They want to help people who use trains. But the buses will only have a few extra seats. The buses will start on Monday. The company will also pay other bus companies to help from some parking places on weekdays.

But the company said the buses can't take as many people. Only a few people who use the train now can use the bus. So, if there is a strike, the company asks people to work from home if they can.

The weather might be bad, so trains and buses to Shakira's concerts in New Jersey on Thursday and Friday are canceled.

They met on Monday in Washington to talk about it. Someone helped them talk on Thursday. They will meet again on Sunday morning to talk more.

The agency and the train workers are talking about money. The workers want more money. They want to get paid like other train workers nearby. Now, they get $113,000 each year. They want $170,000. The boss of the agency needs to say yes.

But NJ Transit says the union is wrong. They say engineers earn $135,000 each year, and some earn over $200,000.

Two people, Kolluri and Murphy, said on Thursday that the problem is not just about a pay rise. It is about if they can agree on rules that other groups will not ask for the same thing. If that happens, NJ Transit might not have enough money.

The government can stop the strike and make the workers agree to a deal. But this time, the government does not want to do that, like they did in 2022 for the train strike.

The union at NJ Transit has fewer members now. Many members left for better jobs at other train companies. There were 500 engineers, now there are 450.