LIRR strike deadline will be pushed to May, unions say
Long Island Rail Road riders in September, just days ahead of a scheduled strike averted with the appointment of an emergency federal board. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Long Island Rail Road labor leaders will ask the White House to again intervene in their contract fight with the MTA, effectively delaying until May a potential union strike that could have started next week.
In a statement to Newsday, the coalition of five LIRR unions said they "will request a second Presidential Emergency Board" of mediators appointed by President Donald Trump to help resolve the ongoing labor dispute with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With the request, a federal deadline that would have allowed a legal work stoppage beginning Jan. 16 will be pushed back another four months, to May 16. Under federal law, the mediation request is the last one that can be made.
Days before they could have gone on strike in September, the unions requested intervention from the White House. The three-member panel of mediators issued a non-binding recommendation that workers receive 14% raises over four years and a $3,000 lump-sum payment.
The recommendation was closer to the 16%, four-year contract sought by the unions than it was to the 9.5%, three-year deal offered by the MTA.
Federal law allows for unions, railroad management or a governor to request the White House to intervene up to two times in commuter railroad labor disputes.
Ahead of formally making their request, the unions said they "fully expect" the next board of Trump-appointed mediators to also find "labor’s position both more reasonable than the MTA/LIRR overreach and our wage proposals a fair reflection of the rising cost of living on Long Island."
In a statement, LIRR president Rob Free said, "The best way to settle this is at the negotiating table, which we've been ready to do. ... We look forward to them showing up to negotiate a contract that includes meaningful improvements to work rules so we can better serve LIRR riders."
The MTA and Gov. Kathy Hochul have said the unions should accept the same contract terms already agreed to by most transit workers, including at the LIRR. To get higher raises, MTA officials have said the unions should be willing to give back lucrative work rules that provide significant additional pay for minimal extra work.
The unions in their statement said that "rather than continue this lengthy process," both sides should meet and "hammer out a fair agreement ... that’s not concessionary."
By further postponing the federal deadline, the unions are delaying a potential strike to just weeks before the gubernatorial primary election. The unions in their statement accused the MTA and Hochul of "cynically" trying to provoke a strike last year "so that they wouldn’t have the strike threat in an election year."
In a statement, Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler said "the only way for this dispute to end is for unions to negotiate at the bargaining table, not in the press."
"The MTA has offered to negotiate with these unions any time and anywhere," Butler said. "It's now up to them to come to the table in good faith and ensure that nearly 300,000 LIRR riders can depend on quality, reliable service."
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.
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