The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday gave final approval to new collective bargaining agreements with Long Island Rail Road unions, formally closing out contracts that emerged from last month’s three-day strike and raising wages by nearly 15 percent over four years.
The four-year agreement provides members of the five unions with annual wage increases of 3 percent in each of the first two years, followed by a 3.5 percent increase in the third year and a 4.5 percent increase in the final year. Over the life of the contract, those raises compound to a total pay increase of approximately 14.7 percent.
The vote, taken during a board meeting following an executive session, ratified agreements that had already been approved by unions representing about 3,500 LIRR workers. Those unions include the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Transportation Communications Union.
Union members across the coalition overwhelmingly ratified the agreements in recent weeks, with votes exceeding 97 percent approval in several cases. In the final ratification round, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen members approved their contract by 98 percent, according to union officials.
Union leaders said the deal resulted from a prolonged bargaining process that stretched more than three years and included federal mediation and a strike.
“We went three years without raises and negotiated in good faith. We negotiated to the buzzer,” said Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen General Chairman Gil Lang in a statement, adding that his members “never wavered” during the dispute and credited solidarity across the coalition for securing the agreement.
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers International President Brian Bryant also praised members for their unity.
“This victory belongs to the members who stood together and never wavered,” he said in his statement. “Their solidarity carried them through every challenge and ultimately delivered this historic result.”
MTA CEO Janno Lieber said the board’s action marks the completion of a lengthy bargaining process.
Speaking during the meeting, Lieber said the board “voted to approve those agreements,” noting they were the same labor deals previously ratified by the unions involved.
He said the final economic terms came in slightly lower than earlier projections once offsets were factored in. While the fourth year includes a 4.5 percent general wage increase, Lieber said cost-saving measures reduced the overall impact to the MTA by about seven-tenths of a percentage point.
He said those savings came in part from extending the agreement’s length and changing how required computer-based training is delivered, allowing workers to complete it on straight time rather than requiring overtime coverage and replacement staffing.
Lieber said the net cost of the deal is “well under 4 percent,” allowing it to fit within the MTA’s financial plan.
The agreement follows a period of intense labor negotiations that culminated in a three-day strike last month, the first at the Long Island Rail Road since 1994. The strike halted regular commuter rail service across Long Island and affected tens of thousands of daily riders before a tentative settlement was reached.
