BLET, NJ Transit reach tentative agreement on labor pact

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and New Jersey Transit have reached a tentative agreement on an eight-year contract that would cover 500 locomotive engineers.

If ratified, the contract would be retroactive to 2020 and run through 2027. The contract would end five years of negotiations that involved federal mediation and recommendations by two Presidential Emergency Boards, BLET officials said in a press release. 

Included in the proposal is a commuter technology agreement that calls for the introduction of electronic information to be used by NJ Transit locomotive engineers. Other details of the tentative contract were not disclosed in the release.

"This will help ensure that engineers that transport hundreds of thousands of commuters to and from their destinations have the most current information to safety operate their trains," said BLET National Vice President James Louis.

Ballots and copies of the tentative agreement will be distributed to members next week, BLET officials said.