A strike by engineers at New Jersey Transit brought commuter rail service to a halt on Friday, stranding thousands who rely on the system to travel into New York City. The walkout began at 12:01 am EDT after last-ditch negotiations failed to yield a new contract agreement.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), representing 450 engineers, said a 15-hour negotiating session collapsed late Thursday night when NJ Transit representatives left the table around 10 pm. The union had been seeking pay raises that would bring engineers’ earnings in line with other regional commuter railroads.

The strike affects approximately 350,000 daily passengers and marks the first labor stoppage to hit NJ Transit rail in over four decades. The agency operates the third-busiest commuter rail system in North America.

NJ Transit argued that meeting the engineers’ demands would trigger a wave of pay increase requests from 14 other unions, risking financial instability. "Meeting the union's wage demands would put the agency into a fiscal 'death spiral,'" said NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri.

Wider context

Both sides have accused each other of failing to negotiate in good faith. BLET national president Mark Wallace countered that the strike was "triggered by management," adding that the union was prepared to resume talks.

No additional talks were officially scheduled, though both parties were expected to return to the bargaining table by Sunday, possibly earlier, with federal mediators involved.

On Friday morning, traffic into Manhattan was lighter than usual, aided by commuters working remotely and fewer Friday travelers overall. NJ Transit had advised passengers to stay home and ramped up bus service, though it acknowledged buses could only absorb about 20% of the displaced rail riders.

To soften the impact, private buses were chartered to run from satellite parking lots. At the Port Authority Bus Terminal, commuters reported manageable crowding. "I got a seat to myself this morning," said Anthony Wilkerson, a tech employee from West Orange. "But he wondered whether next week would bring more crowding."

Dive deeper

Complicating matters, members of other unions refused to cross picket lines, prompting NJ Transit to file lawsuits in federal court. The agency called these actions "sympathy strikes" and said they violated the Railway Labor Act. Legal action targeted dispatchers, power-line operators, and track maintenance crews whose absence, the agency claimed, endangered operations for both commuter and freight traffic.

Negotiations had appeared to make progress earlier in the year, but a tentative agreement reached in March was overwhelmingly rejected by union members. NJ Transit maintains that engineers currently earn an average of $135,000 annually, with the latest offer pushing that to $172,000. The union disputes those figures, claiming the actual average is closer to $113,000.

While the duration of the strike remains uncertain, union spokesperson Jamie Horwitz said, "Our goal is to press them to continue to try to move [talks] up" ahead of Sunday.

Read next: Newark airport crisis highlights US air traffic control failures