Strike deadline nears for New York-area train system with 250,000 daily commuters
NEW YORK– North America’s largest commuter rail system faces a potential shutdown as the deadline approaches to reach an agreement with union workers to avoid a strike.
The Long Island Rail Road, which serves New York’s eastern suburbs, has been negotiating a new contract for months with labor officials representing locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other rail workers.
A strike was temporarily averted in September when President Donald Trump’s administration agreed to help. Those efforts ended without an agreement, giving both sides 60 days — until 12:01 a.m. Saturday — to try again to resolve their differences before the union is legally allowed to strike or the agency can lock out workers.
Five unions representing about half of the rail system’s 7,000 employees warned this week that Saturday’s deadline was approaching.
The LIRR is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, carrying approximately 250,000 customers each weekday. LIRR workers last went on strike in 1994, for about two days. The workers almost walked out in 2014 before the government of the time. Andrew Cuomo reached a deal with the unions.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the LIRR and other area transit systems, said it would provide free but limited shuttles during morning and afternoon rush hours. The agency says the shuttles will depart from designated LIRR stations to subway stations in New York’s Queens borough.
Gov. Kathy Hochul urged LIRR riders to work from home, if possible, as the free shuttles are intended for essential workers and those who cannot telework. The Democrat, a few months earlier, had criticized the LIRR unions for their “greedy demands” which threatened to “destabilize the local economy.”
But there were signs of progress in negotiations this week.
A few months ago, the MTA offered the unions a 9.5 percent wage increase over three years, which is what other unionized workers in the system have already agreed to. The unions, however, expected a new annual salary increase of 6.5%, for a total increase of 16% over four years.
But after Wednesday’s closed-door meetings, Gary Dellaverson, the MTA’s chief negotiator, said the agency had offered the unions what it said would effectively amount to a 4.5 percent raise in the fourth year of the contract. That offer, he said, was consistent with what federal officials had recommended and would take the form of lump sum payments rather than wage increases, as the union wanted.
“The difference between these two positions is not insurmountable,” Dellaverson said at a news conference. “It’s simply described in terms of money. There are no more complexities with the parties.”
Kevin Sexton, a spokesman for the unions, acknowledged Wednesday that there was “positive movement” toward a settlement, but dismissed the idea that a deal was reached as “far-fetched.”
“We would like to reach an agreement that reflects the rising cost of living,” he said. “Anything below that amounts to a reduction in real wages.”
MTA spokespeople did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Thursday, but the union said the two sides are expected to continue negotiations later tonight and meet again Friday if there is still no agreement.
Susanne Alberto, a personal trainer on Long Island, said she had already made plans with her Manhattan clients to hold virtual sessions in the event of a shutdown.
She said the union probably has the upper hand, although she believes raises should be based on job responsibilities and not across the board.
“The MTA is going to cave, and they know it,” Alberto said. “Why don’t they do it now instead of waiting until millions of people are inconvenienced?”
Rob Udle, an electrician who takes the LIRR at least five days a week, said he would likely use his vacation days rather than experience the “nightmare” of commuting to Manhattan if train service stopped.
A union member, he sympathizes with unions’ concerns about affordability, but says he disagrees with their strong-arm tactics.
“I get it, the cost of living is going up and stuff like that,” Udle said while waiting at Penn Station for a train home. “But they shouldn’t hold everyone hostage to do it. There’s a better way. You’re affecting a lot of other people.”
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The first reference to the rail system has been updated to correct Long Island Rail Road, from Long Island Railroad.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo
