New Jersey Commuter Rail Engineers Set to Strike Amid Failed Negotiations

New Jersey's commuter rail engineers are preparing to go on strike early Friday following stalled contract negotiations with the New Jersey Transit agency. The talks aimed at meeting the workers' wage demands crumbled ahead of the midnight deadline, the engineers' union confirmed on Thursday.

This imminent labor strike marks the first such action against the NJ Transit in over four decades. The strike is set to commence at 12:01 a.m. EDT, according to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents 450 engineers who operate NJ Transit's commuter trains. The negotiation effort, which stretched for 15 hours on Thursday, was abruptly halted when management walked away from the bargaining table.

As the union made its declaration, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri addressed the press, stating that while talks had officially paused, management is ready to resume negotiations. They also presented plans to minimize the inconvenience to hundreds of thousands of commuters expecting significant disruptions in New Jersey and New York.

(With inputs from agencies.)