National board summons LIRR unions and MTA as strike continues
Nearly 300,000 daily riders faced systemwide shutdowns as the first LIRR strike in more than 30 years collided with the Monday commute.
Commuters headed into the workweek faced the threat of severe disruption as the Long Island Rail Road remained shut down systemwide, leaving nearly 300,000 daily riders without service and forcing employers across Long Island and New York City to brace for fallout. The strike began after midnight Friday, when five unions representing about half of the LIRR’s 7,000-person workforce walked off the job in a contract fight over wages and health care costs.
The National Mediation Board summoned the unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to Manhattan as pressure mounted to restart talks. The federal agency can bring both sides into the same room and intensify the push for bargaining, but it cannot impose a contract on its own. That leaves the key decisions with the MTA and the five unions, even as White House-appointed mediators said there was no indication the agency could not afford the proposed increases.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called for talks to resume to end the strike, which has already become the railroad’s first in more than 30 years. The last LIRR strike came in 1994 and lasted two days; an even longer shutdown in 1987 stretched to 11 days. Union officials said the dispute centered on salaries and healthcare premiums after years without a raise, while the unions were seeking wage increases of 14.5% over four years.
The MTA said the service stoppage would have a devastating impact on riders who depend on the railroad every day. Janno Lieber, the agency’s chair and chief executive, said the agency was ready to resume negotiations and had argued that both sides were close. The MTA has said meeting the unions’ demands could force fare increases of as much as 8%, while it offered 3% over three years and a $3,000 lump-sum payment.
With trains still sidelined, the authority moved to limited backup plans from Lakeview, Hicksville, Ronkonkoma, Mineola and Huntington to subway transfer points in Queens. Union officials said picket lines would be in force at New York Penn Station and at the Ronkonkoma station, underscoring how quickly the strike reached beyond the bargaining table and into the region’s daily transit spine.
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