The initiative by banks and other employers in New York to bring back workers to the office is being undermined by an unexpected roadblock in a neighboring state.

Mark Wallace, the union’s national president, confirmed that the union and NJ Transit didn’t reach an agreement on a new labor contract Thursday night, so the strike began at

New Jerseycommuter rail engineers walked off the job on Friday after marathon contract talks deadlocked, idling a train system that serves some 350,000 passengers a day, including tens of thousands bound for New York City.