BLET Forks $50K Over to NJT for ‘Illegal Job Action’

The BLET (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen) has settled with New Jersey Transit for $50,000 over a June 19, 2022 “sickout” the agency says was an “illegal job action.” BLET National President Edward Hall said the union “does not condone unlawful strikes, slowdowns, or other such job actions by its affiliates.”

On June 17, 2022 (Juneteenth, a U.S. Federal Holiday*), NJT locomotive engineers belonging to the BLET called in sick, “staging an illegal job action … impacting the commutes of more than 75,000 rail customers with massive delays, cancellations and the eventual systemwide suspension of train service,” the agency, which “was forced to cancel nearly 300 trains,” said. On June 15, 2023, NJT resolved a settlement with the National BLET in the amount of $50,000, and is still pursuing claims against the General Committee of Adjustment (GCA), the local BLET organization that “orchestrated the illegal job action.”

A federal court last June found in favor of NJT that the GCA “violated the Railway Labor Act by instigating the ‘sickout,’” The agency said. “The court’s order put in effect immediately following the job action remains in place and prohibits the local union from taking any such action in the future, including for this year’s {June 19) Juneteenth holiday.”

While “not acknowledging or admitting any wrongdoing as it relates to the illegal job action orchestrated by the local union,” in a letter dated June 6, 2023, BLET National President Edward Hall wrote to NJT President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett that the union “hereby affirms that it does not condone unlawful strikes, slowdowns, or other such job actions by its affiliates. Consistent with our Bylaws and our obligations under the Railway Labor Act, BLET will continue to urge its affiliates and their members to comply with the law and not engage in unlawful strikes, slowdowns or other such job actions. BLET also urges its affiliates to comply with all directives and orders issued by the courts.”

“NJ Transit is pleased that the National BLET recognizes that federal law prohibiting a job action must be followed, and that it’s committed to ensuring membership in New Jersey follows the law moving forward,” said Corbett. “We fully expect the BLET local union to realize there are serious consequences for unilaterally violating the law to the detriment of tens of thousands of New Jersey residents.”

Last year’s sickout appears to be directly related to an ongoing contract dispute. NJT said it “has made a fair and pattern-based contract offer that has been accepted and ratified by 14 of 15 rail unions covering 91% of rail union employees, and includes the Juneteenth holiday. The GCA is the only union to not accept these terms.” The agency is currently engaged in active and ongoing mediation with the GCA through the National Mediation Board.

According to a report by transportation writer Larry Higgs in NJ.com, “The payment by the National BLET settles part of a June 26, 2022, suit by NJ Transit last year that asked courts to fine the union for overtime and the costs for PATH, private bus carriers and NY Waterway ferries to honor NJ Transit passengers’ tickets when some engineers staged a sickout. But NJT BLET General Chairman James Brown denied the union told engineers not to show up for work on Juneteenth 2022.

“‘No one from the union ever told anyone not to go to work,’ he said. ‘If you polled our membership, you’d find a half-dozen reasons why engineers [marked off] or didn’t come in, from graduations to members who wanted to observe Juneteenth. Our black and brown brothers and sisters have waited 150 years to be recognized, and NJ Transit used it as a political tool to force an agreement and punish the engineers because they would not settle for a substandard contract.’

“‘This is a sideshow,’ Brown said of the settlement. ‘We’re focused on getting a fair contract for our members. They haven’t had a raise since 2019, and NJ Transit has $400 million for luxury offices, but it can’t sit down at the table and settle a contract for its frontline engineers.’

Citing steep renovation costs it claims would exceed that of a relocation, NJT recently announced a $400 million plan to move its corporate headquarters in Newark, N.J. from One Penn Plaza, which is across the street from Penn Station Newark, to adjacent 2 Gateway Center, which is physically connected to the shared NJT/Amtrak/PATH station.

NJT and the GCA “are at odds over wages that match other regional commuter railroads, according to union officials,” Higgs reported. “The engineers union maintains they are the lowest paid locomotive engineers in the New York-New Jersey region. The union has rejected offer patterned after what other rail unions agreed to because the offers don’t account for the highly technical nature of a locomotive engineers job. The union said the pattern that should be followed is parity with what Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North pay engineers.”

*From Wikipedia: “Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining ‘June’ and ‘nineteenth,’ it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order, issued by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas. Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture. The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law after the efforts of Lula Briggs Galloway, Opal Lee, and others.”