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Amtrak workers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) of the Teamsters Rail Conference began picketing at Penn Station in Newark, N.J. yesterday and passing out leaflets to Amtrak passengers warning of a potential strike.

The unions are protesting a six-year stalemate in contract negotiations and the Amtrak board’s recent decision to create a separate Northeast Corridor subsidiary.

BLET and BMWED represent 3,000 Amtrak train operators and 2,500 maintenance-of-way workers assigned to the Northeast Corridor, respectively.

Amtrak and union officials have been engaged in mediation for the past five-and-a-half years. Amtrak wants to cut health care for disabled workers, reduce wages and change work rules, according to the unions.