NEW YORK (PIX11) -- “It’s a hassle, it’s a mess,” Said James Robinson, who’s been commuting into New York City for work by train for more than three decades and is over the NJ transit engineers' strike that has impacted about 350,000 commuters.
For James, taking the bus into Manhattan on Friday morning was far from a pleasant experience.
“This is ridiculous that people have to travel like this, I had to stand on a bus for about 40 mins coming. The bus after a while had to stop picking up people. One of the buses I normally catch didn’t even show up,” added Robinson.
The union representing the engineers claims the company is refusing to offer them competitive salaries
“Every single NJT employee, every single union employee is paid less than their counterpart at other area passenger railroads,” stated Tom Hass, BELT General Chairman.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy argued that NJ transit engineers get paid roughly the same hourly rate as their counterparts. The head of NJ Transit says it’s about being financially responsible and stable.
“This is not about giving them a fair wage. It’s about how do you do it in a fiscally responsible manner that doesn’t bankrupt NJT and puts it on a death spiral,” said Kris Kolluri.
As negotiations are scheduled to resume on Sunday, James feels neither NJ Transit nor the workers on strike are thinking about customers like him.
“When does this end? They need to come to a resolution this weekend so everybody can get back to a normal life as far as traveling,” Concluded Robinson.
Meanwhile, NJ Governor Phil Murphy stated, “At this moment, our single highest priority is reaching a fair and affordable deal as soon as humanly possible.”
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