The Long Island Rail Road shut down service early Saturday after five railroad unions went on strike following the expiration of a federally mandated cooling-off period.
The strike affects unions representing signalmen, electricians, clerks, machinists and locomotive engineers, impacting thousands of workers and disrupting travel for nearly 300,000 daily riders.
Negotiations continued through the week up to the deadline, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on wages and contract terms.
The last Long Island Rail Road strike occurred on June 17, 1994, lasting for two days before a contract settlement was reached. Another strike was narrowly avoided in 2014.
Valley Stream is home to two stations: Valley Stream and Gibson.
"Valley Stream is home to a tremendous number of commuters who rely on the trains to get them to work," Mayor Ed Fare said. "This situation will now cause untold hardships on so many in our community. It is a shame it has come to this."
Michael Edwards said he commutes from the Gibson station to Long Island City, where he works in transportation.
"It would cost me more money because I would have to drive," Edwards said. "I would have to drive to queens, take a bus to Jamaica and then take a train from there."
Andrea T. said she normally takes the train from Gibson to Penn Station. She volunteers at Sparkidz, a JCC non-profit program for neurodiverse children.
“I wouldn't be able to do my volunteer work,” she said, “and I wouldn't be able to visit my friends I work with.”
Olivia Schwartz, a management associate at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital, is what some would call a "reverse commuter," commuting from Grand Central or Penn Station to the Valley Stream station.
Schwartz had already made arrangements prior to the strike, including speaking to her boss about remote work or taking the subway to Queens to meet a co-worker who offered to drive her.
"I would say I'm lucky that it's not going to affect me too badly, and I have solutions and alternatives," Schwartz said. "It's going to be a huge challenge, I think, for a lot of other workers."
Despite the challenges for commuters, Schwartz acknowledges the reasons for the strike and its impact on MTA workers.
"It's important for people to stand up for what they believe in, and so while it's inconvenient to a lot of workers, there's definitely reason that they're doing it," Schwartz said. "This is how you inspire change."
The contract dispute centered largely on wage increases and the structure of compensation. A Presidential Emergency Board recommended a 4.5 percent wage increase for a one-year contract extension, while the MTA proposed a 3 percent across-the-board raise supplemented by lump-sum payments. Union leaders argued the lump sums would not permanently increase workers’ base salaries and continued pushing for higher recurring wage increases.
In response to the shutdown, the MTA activated its contingency plan, which includes limited weekday shuttle bus service for essential workers and commuters unable to work remotely.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a Sunday news conference that state officials and the MTA remain 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.”
Shuttle buses are operating 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.
The MTA also encouraged commuters to work remotely if possible and warned travelers to expect significant congestion and delays on roads and transit systems throughout the region.
Nassau County riders were urged to consider NICE Bus service as an alternative connection to subway stations in Queens.
