Long Island Rail Road strike delayed for now: What's next?
Long Island Rail Road strike delayed for now: What's next?
A Long Island Rail Road strike has been averted for now as union officials asked the Trump administration to intervene. FOX 5 NY's Jodi Goldberg has the latest.
LONG ISLAND - A Long Island Rail Road strike has been averted for now as union officials asked the Trump administration to intervene.
In a Monday morning press conference, the five unions, representing over 3,700 LIRR workers, asked for federal officials to put together a presidential emergency board that would delay a strike that was said to begin Thursday.
Garden City, N.Y.: Commuters at the Long Island Rail Road station on Feb. 5, 2025 in Garden City, New York. (Photo by Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the MTA had said the unions were being unreasonable, rejecting a contract that offered 9.5% wage increases over a period of three years. Officials say the LIRR has the highest paid railroad workforce in the nation. On average, officials say engineers are earning $160,000 per year.
What they're saying:
In a statement, John McCarthy said: "After months of radio silence, these outlier unions have finally admitted that they weren't serious about negotiating. They never had a plan to resolve this at the bargaining table. If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration. And if they don’t want to strike, they should say so - and finally show up to the negotiating table. This cynical delay serves no one."
The strike could have caused major disruptions to service across the LIRR, impacting over 270,000 daily riders.