The Hudson Bergen Light Rail (HBLR), which is subcontracted by NJ Transit to a company called Washington Group International, is barreling toward a wall at full speed. HBLR employees have been working without a contract for over six months now. The lack of compromise regarding mediocre pay rates and benefits is driving operators and maintenance workers to extreme measures. Who is to blame? How about blaming a close nit family business?

Why is it that 90% of HBLR’s management is related? What are their credentials, what have they done to be where they are? These questions seem to always linger among curiously furious employees. How is it that a college graduate with rail experience and more than a fair share of management experience is overlooked, yet a new hire with no rail experience is a perfect fit to the supervisory staff.

“We’ve seen it all, a liquor store clerk with no rail experience, an operator who ran a red over red signal, (a signal more restricting than a motor vehicle’s red light due to possibilities of derailment and/or customer injuries) another operator promoted after six months for puzzling reasons. It’s a time and time again occurrence here at the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. Nothing surprises you anymore around here. This company is a joke and if Transit (NJ Transit) hasn’t seen it for this long we’re not about to let them stay blinded.”

Is it a coincidence that most of upper management live in Staten Island, share a last name, or can be found on the branches of a corrupt family tree? Sure you might say there is favoritism everywhere; it’s who you know rings an all too familiar bell. However, in most of those situations there is a regard for the fellow worker and a healthy median for compromise. This family business laughs all the way to the bank with your hard earned tax payer money. It’s not their leadership that has made the Light Rail successful. It’s the sweat and sense of the employees that keep this sham of a railroad together.

Have you ever been told by an operator to disembark the train and wait to board the next train? Sure you have! The thing is, it’s not the operators fault nor is it his/her call. Our friends in Management decide for you, the tax payer (the supplier of their bread and butter) what your best interest is. Do you know what that best interest might be? I’ll tell you. Management believes that it is in the tax payer’s interest to be disrupted during the rush home after a long laborious, tiring workday. When they ask you to exit a train nine out of ten times you are being asked to waste your precious time and in the long run money, your tax payer money. The train that you just got off isn’t going to pick up passengers, nor will anyone make an effort to let you know why this scheduled train is not stopping. The reason for this is that something altered train movement (a bad door, a car blocking the tracks, police/fire activity) and the train is running late. So, you have to pay for it. For every on-time train Washington Group gets in on time, NJ Transit pays the company a few hundred dollars, ultimately your tax money. Think of how many times it has happened to you, (if you’re an avid rider I’m sure more than a few) was that in your best interest? Of course not, it’s a matter of company greed and total disregard for passengers. I estimate this scenario occurring at least twice a day (that’s being modest). Here is a rough example of what that means:

(2 trains per day) × (roughly $200 per on-time train) × (365 days a year) = $146,000 of unearned, stolen money; your money. I’m sure it’s twice or three times that, but you get the idea.

I bet it feels good to know that. Trust me it feels worse to know that you work for a company that does it. What’s even worse is that we the workers get hit twice, once in taxes and ultimately in sub-par wages. Operators don’t get merited for saving trains, but management reaps the rewards from another cha-ching in the good old family pool of funds.

So why are family ties at the Hudson Bergen Light Rail important you ask? Simply this, their drive is not to satisfy you the customer, nor is it their goal to please the workers. The main objective is to line a family tree of pockets before NJ Transit realizes what is going on. My hope is that this will end sooner than we expect, but till then enjoy your ride one the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. Oh, and if you are asked to leave the train for some reason don’t be displeased with the operator, push the red button on the platform and ask to be given an explanation. Or, better yet politely ask the operator what train number he/she is on (the train number is not the number you see on the exterior of the train, it’s a single or double digit number) and keep a note of the number, time, and date of the occurrence. Email these occurrences to hblr@hotmail.com and we’ll get better service on both ends of the spectrum.

To Be Sure,
You Have To
Make Sure.

It's too bad that we don't have "private" railroads anymore.

I have yet to ride HBLR.

FW