Establishing a Second Emergency Board To Investigate a Dispute Between New Jersey Transit Rail Operations and Its Locomotive Engineers Represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

This executive order establishes a second Emergency Board under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) to investigate and report on a labor dispute between New Jersey Transit Rail Operations and its Locomotive Engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLE&T). Building on a prior Emergency Board that was created in July 2024 but whose recommendations were not accepted, the President appoints a three-member board (one chair and two associates) to hear the dispute. The board will operate independently and its records will be kept by the National Mediation Board (NMB). The process requires the parties to submit final settlement offers within 30 days of the board’s creation, after which the board will select the most reasonable offer and report its finding to the President within another 30 days. The order also imposes a 60-day no-change period on working conditions unless the parties agree otherwise, and the board terminates after delivering its report. The move reflects continued federal involvement in rail labor relations under the RLA to avoid disruption of service. It creates a structured, time-limited mechanism to determine a settlement that best resolves the dispute, while preserving the status quo during the process.