North America's largest commuter rail system, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), shut down on Saturday after unionized workers in the New York City area went on strike. The LIRR, which serves the city's eastern suburbs, ceased operations early Saturday morning when five unions representing about half of its workforce walked off the job. The two sides have been negotiating for months on a new contract, and even President Donald Trump's administration had interceded to try to broker a deal. However, the unions were legally allowed to strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
No New Negotiations Scheduled
Kevin Sexton, National Vice President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, stated that no new negotiations have been scheduled. "We're far apart at this point," Sexton said early Saturday. "We are truly sorry that we are in this situation." Janno Lieber, the MTA chairman, said the agency "gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay" and that it seemed apparent the unions always intended to walk out.
Impact on Commuters and Sports Fans
The walkout, the first for the LIRR since a two-day strike in 1994, is expected to cause significant disruption. Sports fans planning to see the crosstown baseball rivals, the New York Yankees and Mets, or to watch the NBA's New York Knicks playoff run at Madison Square Garden will face challenges, as both venues have dedicated LIRR stops. If the shutdown continues past the weekend, the roughly 250,000 daily riders will need to find alternative routes into New York City from Long Island suburbs. Many will likely have to navigate the region's notoriously congested roads.
"People are still going to commute, but if everybody starts driving now, the traffic is only going to get worse," said Rich Piccola, an accountant who commutes into the city, as he waited at Penn Station for a train home Thursday. Governor Kathy Hochul is urging Long Islanders to work from home if possible. The MTA has said it will provide limited shuttle buses to New York City subway stations, but that contingency plan was not designed to handle all the riders the system normally carries on a workday.
Remote Work Not an Option for All
While remote work options expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers still need to show up in person, noted Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, a commuter advocacy group. "You work in construction, you work in the healthcare industry, you work at a school or you're about to graduate from school, that's not always possible," she said of telecommuting. "People need to get where they need to go."
Sticking Points in Negotiations
The most recent contract talks have stalled on the issue of workers' salaries and health care premiums. The MTA has said the unions' initial demands would lead to fare increases and impact contract negotiations with other unionized workers. The unions, representing locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen, and other train workers, argue that more substantial raises are needed to help workers keep up with inflation and rising living costs.
Some riders, while sympathetic to the union's affordability concerns, worry they will bear the brunt of any pay raises. "If the unions get the pay increases they are looking for, it will come at the expense of our riders who will see next year's 4% fare increase doubled to 8%," Gerard Bringmann, chair of the LIRR Commuter Council, said in a statement. "Like the union workers, we too are burdened by the increase in the cost of living here on Long Island."
Political Pressure
With Governor Hochul, a Democrat, facing reelection later this year, the pressure may be on the MTA to strike a deal to end the shutdown, said William Dwyer, a labor relations expert at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where commuter rail workers staged a three-day strike last year. "She's up for reelection, and Long Island is a critical vote for her," he said. "So if there's a significant fare hike, that does not bode well for her on Election Day."
