Final two NJ Transit labor unions OK new agreement, avert strike

Two New Jersey Transit rail unions have ratified a new contract with the agency, removing the lingering threat of a strike.

The SMART Transportation Division Local 60 and the NJ Transit Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) were the last of several unions to approve the agreement.

The SMART union approved the contract 545 to 322, while the NJ Transit BLET ratified the agreement 184 to 140, according to announcements on the unions' websites late last week.

"We are pleased this process has come to a fair and reasonable conclusion," said NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder in an email.

The two unions had initially rejected a tentative pact reached March 11 due to a disagreement over NJ Transit's new health plan, NJ.com reported on Saturday.

The unions had been working without a new contract for about five years.