Long Island Rail Road Workers Go on Strike, Halting Nation’s Busiest Commuter Rail

A strike has shut down the nation’s busiest commuter rail service for the first time in more than three decades, effectively paralyzing transit for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. The Long Island Rail Road officially shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday after negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and labor unions collapsed. The full impact is expected to be felt on Monday, when more than a quarter-million regular weekday riders will have to seek alternative means of transportation.The walkout was initiated by five unions representing about half of the LIRR’s 7,000 workers, including locomotive engineers and signalmen. The core of the dispute centers on wage increases and health care premiums. The unions have been seeking a 16 percent pay increase over four years to keep pace with inflation.Following a late-night press conference, the national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Kevin Sexton, confirmed that no future talks have been scheduled. “We’re far apart at this point and we feel it’s unnecessary because we went through the process,” Mr. Sexton told reporters.MTA officials argued that yielding to the union’s initial demands would force an 8 percent fare hike and job cuts to avoid a budget deficit. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber indicated that while the agency met the unions’ pay demands, it requested that new hires pay more toward their health insurance — a proposal the union rejected.“Obviously, this is not the result we were looking for,” Mr. Lieber said in a statement. “But I, and this MTA Board, have been clear that we cannot responsibly make a deal that implodes MTA’s budget. We refuse to make a deal that puts it on riders and taxpayers to fund outsized wage increases — far beyond what anyone else at the MTA is getting — and for folks who are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the country.”Union leadership pushed back, pointing out that federally appointed review panels had recommended better terms.“This strike would not have happened if the MTA and LIRR offered our members the reasonable terms the government recommended multiple times. But management refused,” the president of the BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference, Mark Wallace, said. “We hope LIRR gets serious soon to avoid further unnecessary disruptions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. They know where to find us when they’re ready: on the streets.”The strike leaves roughly 275,000 daily weekday riders scrambling. If the strike extends into Monday, the MTA plans to deploy limited shuttle buses from select LIRR stations to subway connections in Queens.The LIRR president, Rob Free, previously acknowledged the logistical nightmare of a strike, saying, “We have to recognize over 277,000 daily customers. We couldn’t possibly accommodate that by buses. We have to do everything we can.”Governor Kathy Hochul urged commuters to work from home and pointed fingers at union officials.“Commuters are dealing with unnecessary dysfunction and thousands of union LIRR workers are being forced to go without a paycheck because of decisions made by a small group of union leaders,” Ms. Hochul said. “I stand with LIRR riders and will fight to preserve the long-term stability of the MTA.”It remains unclear how long the strike will last. The last LIRR strike occurred in 1994 and lasted for two days.

Long Island Rail Road Workers Go on Strike, Halting Nation’s Busiest Commuter Rail

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