NJ.COM: New Jersey Transit officials and its rail unions have reached a tentative agreement on their long-simmering contract dispute, a day before a planned strike that threatened to paralyze the region.
No immediate details on the settlement were announced Friday night, or when union members might vote on the proposed accord, but for now commuters can breathe a deep sigh of relief. Gov. Chris Christie added there would be no immediate fare hike.
Union spokesman Stephen Burkert, who first announced a settlement had been reached, would not give any details. “Thankfully for the commuters of NJ Transit, the crisis is averted,” Burkert said. “We’re going home to our families.”
Speaking at press conference immediately afterward, Christie also would not get into details of the proposed settlement until union officials had a chance to review its points with membership.
“That’s the appropriate thing to do,” he told reporters. Christie, who had been in Newark most of the day, said he had been confident there would be a settlement and called “all the hysteria” of the recent days “ginned up” by the media.
“These things,” he said, “always come down to the end.”
While he said there would be no immediate fare increases, the governor added there was always a need for “periodic, responsible fare increases” in the future because salary and health benefit costs can only increase over time. He also urged future governors to keep making responsible increases.
