The Long Island Rail Road entered its third day of a strike Monday, with commuters facing the first full weekday shutdown of service and widespread disruption for workers who typically rely on trains to get into New York City.
The Long Island Rail Road shut down service early Saturday after five railroad unions went on strike at 12:01 a.m. following the expiration of a federally mandated cooling-off period.
Union members began picketing at 7 a.m. Saturday at key locations, including the Babylon and Ronkonkoma LIRR stations and Penn Station.
Kevin Sexton, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and spokesperson for the Long Island Rail Road Bargaining Coalition, said the unions were forced to strike after negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down following two days of round-the-clock talks.
“Regrettably, as of 12:01 a.m. this morning, we are striking the Long Island Railroad,” Sexton said at a news conference early Saturday. “This was a management-provoked strike, as far as we are concerned.”
The strike involves unions representing signalmen, electricians, clerks, machinists and locomotive engineers, affecting thousands of workers and disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of daily riders.
As negotiations stretched toward Friday night’s midnight deadline at MTA headquarters, the two sides remained divided over salary increases during the final year of the proposed contract. Union leaders representing locomotive engineers, electricians, signal workers, machinists and clerks sought a 5 percent raise in the fourth year, while the MTA increased its proposal from 3 percent and included part of the compensation as a lump-sum payment.
Sexton said tensions worsened late in negotiations when the railroad introduced proposed health care contributions for newly hired employees, an issue he said had not previously been part of bargaining discussions.
“Late in the 11th hour, the railroad decided to throw in health care contributions for new employees, which was never discussed in bargaining,” he said.
Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, also criticized the MTA’s handling of negotiations.
“This strike did not have to happen,” Sullivan said. “The men and women represented by this coalition followed every step of the legal process and prevailed before two independent expert boards.”
The two sides returned to negotiations Sunday afternoon after the National Mediation Board, the federal agency overseeing the labor dispute, brought union leaders and MTA officials back together in an effort to restart talks and reach a contract agreement. Negotiations concluded around 1:45 a.m. Monday, but the two sides resumed talks at 7:30 a.m.
Prior to the meeting, Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a Sunday news conference that state officials and the MTA remained prepared to continue negotiations and urged union leaders to return to the bargaining table.
“Let me be clear, I did not want a strike. The MTA did not want a strike,” Hochul said at the MTA’s subway operations control center. “No one wins in a strike. Everyone is hurt.”
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber added that the authority remained open to further talks with union leaders.
“We have always been willing to continue negotiations,” he said earlier Sunday. “We sat there in the hallway so they couldn’t even avoid seeing us, that we were available to talk to them right up to and through the deadline.”
Lieber also said Sunday that the MTA remained willing to continue negotiations but maintained that the authority could not agree to a contract that would create major financial burdens for riders.
“We were more than willing to meet them halfway on wages,” he said. “We need the unions to respond to our ideas and come up with ideas and work with us.”
Lieber said it would take roughly 24 hours to restore full Long Island Rail Road service once a strike deal is reached. The delay is necessary to inspect tracks, reposition equipment and return train crews to their assigned locations before normal operations can resume.
Hochul also defended the MTA’s position Sunday, saying the authority could not agree to contracts that would “raise fares as much as 8 percent and risk hiking taxes for Long Islanders.”
In response to the shutdown, the MTA activated a contingency plan that included limited weekday shuttle bus service for essential workers and commuters unable to work remotely.
Shuttle buses began operating around 4 a.m. Monday during peak commuting hours between six Long Island locations — Bay Shore, Hempstead Lake State Park near the Lakeview train station, Hicksville, Huntington, Mineola and Ronkonkoma — and subway connection points in Queens, including the Howard Beach-JFK Airport A train station and the Jamaica-179 Street F train station.
MTA President Rob Free said the shuttle buses are intended primarily for essential workers traveling into New York City.
“The shuttle bus service is for absolutely essential workers,” Free said. “We want to make sure that we get the necessary people into the city so they can perform their functions.”
Nassau County riders were also urged to consider NICE Bus service as an alternative connection to subway stations in Queens, while commuters were encouraged to use the 7 subway line from Citi Field parking areas. Citi Field is charging $6 per day for parking while the New York Mets are on the road this week.
Hochul urged commuters who are able to work remotely to stay home during the strike.
“I’m asking that regular commuters who can work from home should,” she said. “Please do so. And employers should make every accommodation necessary to allow for remote work.”
She added that there is “no legal mechanism” to suspend congestion pricing in New York City during the strike.
The last Long Island Rail Road strike occurred on June 17, 1994, and lasted two days before a contract settlement was reached. Another strike was narrowly avoided in 2014.
