Biden appoints second emergency board to address NJ Transit labor dispute

President Joe Biden last week established a second Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to help resolve a dispute between New Jersey Transit rail operations and its locomotive engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).

In July, Biden established the first PEB to investigate a dispute between the union and NJ Transit. After the board reported its recommendations for settling the dispute, the board was terminated. However, its recommendations were not accepted by the parties involved in the dispute, according to a National Mediation Board press release. As a result, Biden appointed the second board.

PEBs are established under the Railway Labor Act. After the parties submit their final offers to the board, it reports its findings to the president with its selection of the most reasonable offer within 60 days of the board's creation. No work stoppages and no changes in the conditions out of which the disputes arose are permitted for 120 days after the board's creation.