Five unions representing nearly half of the Long Island Rail Road’s workforce could walk off the job as early as Thursday, Sept. 18 after contract negotiations with the MTA broke down. The workers have gone three years without a new contract, but MTA officials said the unions have failed to return to the table to negotiate to avoid a strike.
A strike could affect nearly 300,000 LIRR daily riders, the largest commuter railroad-riding population in the country.
Transit officials urged office workers who can work from home to do so in the event of a strike. They noted LIRR riders who have cars can drive into the city and park at subway stations in Queens. The agency plans to run shuttle buses every 10 minutes from three LIRR stations.
“We couldn’t possibly replace the full service that LIRR runs every day,” MTA Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said during a news conference. “But we are trying our best to accommodate those essential workers in an effort to not leave anyone stranded.”
Buses will pick up riders at the Bellmore station and take them to the Howard Beach station on the A line. The MTA also plans to run buses from the Hicksville and Ronkonkoma stations that will take riders to the Mets-Willets Point station, where they can catch the 7 train.
Nassau county riders will be able to use NICE buses to connect with a 7 train at Flushing-Main Street or the Jamaica Bus Terminal, which is near the F train at 169th Street.
The MTA announced it would also offer pro-rated refunds to September monthly ticket holders in the event of a strike.
“This will not only impact Long Island Rail Road riders, but the region as a whole in terms of traffic, economic activity and quality of life,” said LIRR President Rob Free.
LIRR workers also went on strike for 11 days in 1987, which was resolved after then-President Ronald Reagan formed a “Presidential Emergency Board” to end the labor dispute. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the MTA or the unions could ask President Donald Trump to do the same — but none of the parties have done so yet. Trump could also intervene himself if he wanted.
Hochul and the MTA blamed federal mediators for allowing the workers to walk away from the negotiating table last month without reaching an agreement.
The MTA says union officials are asking for too high of a raise, arguing the average annual salary for LIRR workers is already roughly $160,000. The MTA is also trying to get the unions to amend work rules that drive up costs. Free said LIRR workers earn an extra day’s pay when a worker operates an electric train and then a diesel train on the same shift. He said moving trains in yards can also give a worker an additional day’s pay for just a few minutes of work.
“From the outset work rules were never a sticking point for the lead negotiating team of the MTA and it is disturbing for them to be saying it now to cause public outrage,” said Michael Sullivan, the general chair of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, one of the unions in negotiations with the MTA.
The five unions plan to hold a meeting Monday to update the public on where the strike vote stands.
“Is it fair to inconvenience the hundreds of thousands of Long Island Rail Road riders by going on strike, who ultimately pay the price for this strike?” Free said.
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