NJ Transit fired head of engineers union for refusing to write letter, he says

By Larry Higgs | nj.com

James P. Brown, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and a veteran engineer, was fired by NJ Transit, officials said.

“Mr. Brown was dismissed and currently has an appeal pending, awaiting arbitration,” said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesperson. No other details were provided.

Brown, who has worked as an NJ Transit locomotive engineer since 2002, told NJ Advance Media he was dismissed for “insubordination” late last year. He said he was deemed insubordinate because he refused NJ Transit’s request to write a letter in June 2022 to union members advising them to come to work on the Juneteenth holiday.

“They dismissed me and are forcing me to arbitration,” Brown said. “The reason was insubordination. They asked me to put out a letter as (union) general chairman asking people to go to work. It’s their job to tell people to come to work.”

NJ Transit officials declined to comment on the reasons for Brown’s dismissal.

On June 17, 2022, 205 engineers called out sick, prompting NJ Transit to cancel 250 trains and suspend evening rail service at the state celebrated Juneteenth. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is the only one of 15 rail labor unions that has not reached an agreement on a new contract with NJ Transit. The union’s contract expired in 2019.

New Jersey observes Juneteenth on the third Friday of June, while the federal holiday is observed June 19 each year. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, learned the Emancipation Proclamation had freed them.

Brown’s dismissal is the latest development in a protracted battle between the locomotive engineers and trainmen union and NJ Transit over contract negotiations. The two sides are also faced off in a federal lawsuit over the union members calling in sick on Juneteenth.

Last year, members of the 14 rail unions that had settled new contracts received holiday pay for Juneteenth, when NJ Transit runs on a regular weekday rail and bus schedule. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which has not settled on a new contract, was told its members were not eligible for holiday pay for Juneteenth.

NJ Transit was seeking monetary damages in a federal lawsuit against the union for the cost of having private bus carriers, PATH and NY Waterway ferries cross honor NJ Transit tickets when union members called out sick on Juneteenth.

The agency called it an illegal job action. However, the union said it did not organize a mass walk out.

Brown said NJ Transit wanted him to issue a letter in his role as union general chairman on June 16, 2022, telling his members to work on Juneteenth. He refused and was notified of his dismissal by registered letter the Friday before Christmas, he said.

Court papers in the federal lawsuit say James Devine, NJ Transit Deputy General Manager of Labor Relations and Administration, heard a rumor that engineers were going to engage in a “job action” on June 17, 2022.

Brown sent union members an email that said, “NJT has made it clear that engineers will not be paid for the (Juneteenth) holiday. Don’t let that deter you from celebrating the HOLIDAY,” according to the lawsuit.

Devine told Brown any job action would be unlawful and met with a response from NJ Transit, according to court papers. Brown replied he did not control the engineers and could not tell them what to do.

Devine told him to send his members a letter advising them to show up for work, Brown said.

No one in the union told members not to go to work on Juneteenth, union officials said. Engineers had many reasons for not coming to work, including attending graduations and wanting to observe Juneteenth, Brown said.

“Our Black and brown brothers and sisters have waited 150 years to be recognized and NJ Transit used it as a political tool to force an agreement and punish the engineers because they would not settle for a substandard contract,” Brown said.

On June 16, NJ Transit announced a $50,000 settlement of a lawsuit against the National Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The union’s national president wrote in a letter that the union “does not condone unlawful strikes, slowdowns, or other such job actions by its affiliates.”

Brown said the settlement helped end a “nuisance lawsuit” that would have cost more money to defend against in court.

On Friday, the day Juneteenth is celebrated as a state holiday in New Jersey this year, no NJ Transit trains were canceled due to lack of engineers or train crews, according to NJ Transit rail alerts.

Contract talks between the union and NJ Transit remain stalled over pay. The union contends NJ Transit engineers are the lowest paid in the region, when compared to Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North and that the job of engineer requires more training and skill than other jobs on the railroad.

NJ Transit officials said they have offered the engineers union the same “pattern bargaining” contract that the other 14 unions have accepted, which includes Juneteenth as a paid holiday. The agency and union are engaged in “ongoing mediation through the National Mediation Board,” officials said.

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Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected].

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