LIRR strike averted, for now, as unions ask White House to intervene

Long Island Rail Road union leaders on Monday backed off a threat to strike this week, saying they have asked President Donald Trump to intervene in their ongoing contract dispute with the MTA.

The request from the five LIRR unions delays a potential strike until mid-January at the earliest, and ensures  the railroad will be able to serve 270,000 daily riders and thousands of golf fans converging on Long Island next week for the Ryder Cup.

After announcing his union’s members had overwhelmingly voted in favor of walking off the job as early as Thursday, Gilman Lang, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said he and his fellow union leaders ultimately decided to "continue being the adults in the room" and buy more time by requesting the White House appoint a panel of mediators.

The request, which could have also been made by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority or Gov. Kathy Hochul, effectively pushes the deadline for a potential shutdown of the LIRR into mid-January at the earliest, and possibly into May — weeks before the primary election in the New York governor’s race.

"This action does not mean a strike won't happen, but it does mean it won't happen now," said Lang, who accused the MTA of using commuters "to play a game of chicken with our unions days before Long Island is to host an international event," referring to the Ryder Cup.

"We refuse to let New York State and the MTA embarrass our region on the world’s stage," Lang said.

Responding to the unions, John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, called the unions’ request for White House intervention a "cynical delay [that] serves no one."

"If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration," McCarthy said. "And if they don’t want to strike, they should say so — and finally show up to the negotiating table."

At a Manhattan news conference outside Penn Station Monday afternoon, representatives from the five unions involved in the contract fight sought to present their side. They said that, contrary to the MTA’s assertion that the unions refused to take the same three-year contract with 9.5% in raises that has already been approved by most other MTA unions — including at the LIRR — the union leaders said they would accept those terms, if they also got a fourth year with a 6.5% wage hike.

The unions said such a contract, averaging out at 4% each year, would keep up with inflation and put them on par with raises offered by other railroads throughout the country.

"Our expectations are nothing spectacular. They are extremely fair and more than reasonable," said Nick Peluso, national vice president of the Transportation Communication Union/International Association of Machinists, which represents about 1,300 LIRR workers. "Workers who keep the Long Island Rail Road moving every single day deserve raises to keep up with the rest of the commuter rail industry."

Jeff Klein, who heads the LIRR’s electricians’ union, accused the MTA and Hochul of attempting to "build public resentment" against workers, including by publicizing high overtime wages earned by a relative few "outliers" at the LIRR.

"Not long ago, our coalition’s members were heralded by the Long Island Rail Road as ‘heroes moving heroes,’" Klein said, referencing the MTA’s slogan when it was transporting essential workers to and from their jobs at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "How quickly they forget."

The labor leaders also disputed the MTA’s assertion they represent less than half — 49.934% — of the approximately 7,000 LIRR union workers, asserting instead, that their organizations’ collectively cover 55% of the railroad’s union workforce.

MTA leaders have said any raises outside of the pattern established by the other unions’ contracts should come with significant concessions, such as the termination of antiquated work rules, such as those that can give employees an extra day’s pay for minimal extra work. While not ruling out potential work rule concessions, the union coalition’s spokesman, BLET national vice president Kevin Sexton, said, until recently, work rules hadn’t been brought up by MTA management during negotiations.

MTA officials disputed that, noting TCU/IAM members early last year voted down a contract offer that would have given them higher raises, but came with work rule concessions involving overtime.

McCarthy also noted that, contrary to the unions’ assertion they asked for Trump’s intervention to avert disrupting the Ryder Cup, the unions declined an offer made last week by the National Mediation Board to extend the ongoing "cooling off" period, and push a strike deadline beyond the golf tournament, which is set to end on Sept. 28.

Sexton said such an agreement "would do nothing," because Hochul’s office "wanted a strike."

At a State Capitol news conference on Monday, Hochul said: "We don’t want a strike at all. If you look at what this union is asking for in comparison to what the other unions have agreed to, and these threats to destabilize the local economy because of their greediness, it’s deeply disturbing."

She added: "I don’t want to just create an environment where they (unions) kick the can down the road and say, ‘Well, we’ll find a better time to strike but we’re going to strike.’ We have to get away from the strike language."

Trump officials did not respond to requests for comment Monday, but the Railway Labor Act, which governs collective bargaining at commuter railroads, says the President "shall create" an emergency board of mediators if requested in a contract dispute. The mediators will ultimately deliver non-binding recommendations on a fair contract settlement.

The MTA and Hochul have accused Trump of instigating a potential LIRR strike, by authorizing the National Mediation Board, a federal agency, to prematurely release the parties in the contract dispute from mediation. Union officials noted on Monday that two of the three NMB members who voted to make that decision were nominated by former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Decades since strike

It’s been more than 30 years since there’s been a work stoppage at the LIRR, the largest commuter railroad in North America.

Although the request for intervention from the White House eliminates the immediate threat of a strike, both the unions and MTA officials offered little optimism the extra time for negotiating would be fruitful. Sexton said he doesn’t "expect any significant movement by the MTA."

Lisa Daglian, executive director of Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, however said that more than just delaying the inevitable, the request for White House intervention comes with "some very concrete steps" that could help achieve a resolution, including the potential for both sides to be forced into binding arbitration.

"It’s time to dial down the rhetoric and dial up the conversation," Daglian said. "What matters most is that, on Thursday ... people are going to be able to get where they’re going."

At Penn Station Monday afternoon, commuters expressed relief that a crippling railroad strike had been averted, if just for now. The MTA’s contingency plan counted on most commuters being able to work from home, and essential workers taking shuttle buses from just three LIRR stations to two subway stations in Queens.

"I had a couple appointments in the city this week, so it made me a little bit nervous about having to commute back and forth," said Tamika Parker, of North Babylon, who sympathized with the unions. "The cost of living, especially on Long Island, is extremely high. So, to say that, ‘You should just take what you get,’ I just think that’s unfair."

Newsday's Nicholas Grasso, Yancey Roy and Nicholas Spangler contributed to this report.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.