Possible NJ Transit "SOFT STRIKE"

"NJ Transit insiders say there is a 75 to 85 percent likelihood that a coalition of 17 rail unions, which have been working without a contract for five years, will call a "soft strike" over the weekend of March 12."


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LOL I hope they strike...

I hope this gets settled and we don't strike or get locked out.

Why not do a medium strike, work but don't accept fares?

I'm coming back to Jersey by car that weekend. Should be interesting to see when I get there.

Ryand-Smith wrote:Why not do a medium strike, work but don't accept fares?

I agree. Why annoy your customers when youre fighting with management?

Its not like they collect fares after 8pm on regular days anyway

I am a customer, and I'm with the employees. If you're a worker, you should be too. "Why annoy your customers?" Because if your strike has no impact, no one cares.

And I ride the train after 8:00p often; my fare is collected just about every time.

ryanov wrote:And I ride the train after 8:00p often; my fare is collected just about every time.

jamesinclair wrote:Its not like they collect fares after 8pm on regular days anyway

I am actually with James here. There are multiple conductors who do not collect certain local fares at all times. The typical example that rubs me the wrong way are crews of Montclair trains from NYP after 7pm not collecting the fares of the people who board from Newark Broad going west towards MSU. As a pass holder I never get a free ride and I do not want one, but given that NJT is always cash strapped I do not understand why a small number of customers get a free ride west. I understand that having to place all seat checks after leaving NYP only to collect them after Broad Street in order to get about 30 fares for people boarding there is annoying, but that is one of the things the crew gets paid for. Those trains are never packed -- everyone gets a seat so not being able to walk the train is not a good excuse (it might be during the rush hour when certain trains could be standing room only going west).

I have a suspicion that the same occurs on the NEC, the Coast Line and the Morris&Essex going west of Newark or Newark Broad.

As for the strike, keep fingers crossed that our governor does not do well in NH because regardless of what your political orientation is, one thing is clear -- nobody will make any decisions without him, so while he is still campaigning the dispute will not get resolved.

EuroStar wrote: I am actually with James here. There are multiple conductors who do not collect certain local fares at all times.
I have a suspicion that the same occurs on the NEC, the Coast Line and the Morris&Essex going west of Newark or Newark Broad.
.

Yes that why I mention it. Ive had to ride Metropark - NB a few times in the past month after 8pm for work and not once was my ticket collected. The crew had ample time to do so. I saw about 20 board with me at metropark so its not like they didnt see people get on. Same for anyone boarding at Metuchen and Edison.

If that was my regular schedule I wouldnt buy a monthly, Id ride the same one way ticket for a few weeks.

ryanov wrote:I am a customer, and I'm with the employees. If you're a worker, you should be too. "Why annoy your customers?" Because if your strike has no impact, no one cares.

Bringing in zero revenue = no one cares? Huh?

Yeah, in my experience the ride from Metropark to Trenton is almost always free.

It's funny seeing the railfan's perspective. One would assume they'd be sympathetic to plight of front line employees. One would be wrong, clearly.

DestinationUnknown wrote:It's funny seeing the railfan's perspective. One would assume they'd be sympathetic to plight of front line employees. One would be wrong, clearly.

You are mistaken. I am sympathetic with employees who have not gotten raises in a while and with most of the general complaints that the political appointees at the top of the agency have no idea how to run buses and trains because they not only have not worked inside the system, but they do not even ride it. That however is completely orthogonal with employees not performing their duties. Not collecting a few tickets because of crowding or some other justifiable reason is one thing. Systematically not collecting intra-NJ fares is a completely different thing. While I think most employees are hard working and very well deserving, there are some who are not. I also disdain the bosses who tolerate this sort of slacking on the job for no good justifieable reason.

As a user of the system I look at the missed fares like this: this is lost revenue. It is not much, but it is not pocket change either. It is probably on the order of $200,000 to $500,000 a year. It is not in the millions, so it will not solve NJTransit financial problems, but it is money that could see a good use. The cost of the direct train service into NYP on the Raritan Line was about that amount. The cost of extending weekend service to MSU is also about that amount. The cost of the trains they eliminated on the PV and Boonton lines was also around that. As a user I miss these services. In fact to some extent this slacking on the job is self defeating for the employees and the unions -- if those fares were collected we could have kept the eliminated trains and together with them the equivalent 1 or 2 employees on the rolls (even if nobody got sacked as a direct consequence of the cuts, I am sure crew schedules and overtime were lost by not having those said trains operate).

Are these fully staffed trains we're talking about?

i hope they do strike, working that long without a contract is ridiculous. Also the management has no car for the riders.

The governor has the last word in matters such as this one. If he decides to go with the last best recommendation of the second PEB it is a done deal. I really don't think he wants a transit strike on his watch as he may run for another term and the negative press and public may scuttle his plans.

Zeke wrote:The governor has the last word in matters such as this one. If he decides to go with the last best recommendation of the second PEB it is a done deal. I really don't think he wants a transit strike on his watch as he may run for another term and the negative press and public may scuttle his plans.

He does not care at all about NJT. He forked them a 300 million dollar bill for the TUNNEL if I remember (which we would've been opening in what 2 years had he not stopped that) He will fork them a nice strike too.

I also don't understand how OBOZO Admin can force them back to work after a soft strike. If they want to strike let them strike. We need to feel the FULL WRATH of a strike not a baby hiccup in the system.The working class that use it on the weekends for work won't be heard otherwise.


He cannot run for another term he is DONE on all levels. Bye bye little donut.