LIRR on brink of shutdown as strike talks between unions, MTA end for the day without a deal

A 12-hour negotiation session between MTA managers and LIRR union leaders ended late Thursday night without a deal that would to avert a railroad strike and leave tens of thousands of New Yorkers struggling to get on, off and around Long Island.

The talks broke shortly before 10 p.m., and are expected to reconvene at 10 a.m. — just 14 hours before a midnight strike deadline.

Asked if he thought a deal could be made with such little time left on the clock, Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said “I hope so.”

“What I can say is, at this point, the parties are very far apart,” Sexton said upon leaving the MTA’s Manhattan headquarters with other union leaders. “But we look forward to meeting with them tomorrow, and will take it from there.”

Speaking to reporters after the 12-hour marathon bargaining session, Gary Dellaverson said he hoped for a “happy and better” result when talks continue tomorrow morning. Before meeting with the LIRR unions, Dellaverson said he’s set to meet with representatives from the MTA’s biggest union, the 40,000 member Transport Workers Union, which is just beginning negotiations for a new contract.

“This stuff is all connected,” Dellaverson said.

MTA officials have expressed concern that giving in to the LIRR unions’ demands could result in other, larger unions wanting the same terms — potentially breaking the bank for the MTA.

To keep costs down, the MTA wants to pay LIRR raises in a fourth year of their contract using a one-time lump sum. The unions have dismissed that offer as a “gimmick" and are insisting on raises. 

“Just because it wasn’t delivered in the fashion that they demand it doesn’t mean it wasn’t delivered,” Dellaverson said.

Earlier in the day, the two sides acknowledged incremental progress in Thursday’s talks. But both also dialed up the temperature ahead of the Saturday 12:01 a.m. deadline. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials defended a threat to fire probationary some workers if they strike, and the unions circulated an image of a countdown clock ticking toward the railroad’s first work stoppage in more than three decades.

Adding to commuters' anxiety, and highlighting the Long Island Rail Road's critical role in the region’s transportation network, a fire inside an East River rail tunnel shut down train service at Penn during the evening rush hour, sending riders scurrying to find other ways to get home.

There’s still "a long way to go" to reach a deal to avert a shutdown of the railroad Saturday, Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and a spokesman for the coalition of five unions, said emerging from the talks Thursday evening.

"We’ve been bargaining throughout the day, passing proposals back and forth," Sexton said. "We’re going to do everything in our power to reach an agreement, but I cannot guarantee that at this time."

John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations for the MTA, called Thursday’s talks "very serious," and noted they’ve included, for the first time, MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.

"There's still work to be done, so it's like any negotiation. There’s a lot of back and forth, but we're not going to give up on this," McCarthy said, speaking outside the MTA’s lower Manhattan headquarters, where the talks were taking place. "This is very important. It's important for riders on the Long Island Rail Road and so we're gonna be in it as long as it takes."

The sticking point in negotiations, Sexton said, remains the MTA’s proposal to provide workers extra pay in the fourth year of a new contract in the form of a lump sum that the MTA has said would be the equivalent of a 4.5% raise.

The unions have held firm that they want increases to their wages.

Asked if any progress was made Thursday on the issue, Sexton said "We’re working toward it slowly. ... Very, very slowly."

Firing probationary employees

The unions and MTA officials also traded barbs after the LIRR informed unions that probationary employees could be fired if they go on strike.

Kelli Coughlin, the LIRR’s senior deputy chief of labor relations, in a memo to LIRR employees Tuesday, advised probationary employees that they "are required to report to work, regardless of the Union's strike."

In a letter to MTA managers Wednesday, the heads of the five LIRR unions called the memo "especially troubling given the inherently vulnerable status of probationary employees and the obvious chilling effect the memorandum is intended to produce ... If you are asserting a lawful basis for taking such action, please provide it to us."

In response to questions, an MTA spokesman wrote in a statement: "All LIRR employees are required to report to work."

MTA board member Marc Herbst, who represent Suffolk County, said  while MTA management "has a right to self-help, as well" during a contract impasse, any talk of firing employees would be "going nuclear."

"I don’t think it’s healthy as part of negotiations to be talking about those types of actions at this point," Herbst said.

Shutdown plans

In the event of a union strike, McCarthy said railroad management would work with labor leaders to wind down service Friday evening, with the goal of having all trains stored in yards ahead of the Saturday 12:01 a.m. strike deadline.

At some point Friday, the MTA would begin advising customers, including through the TrainTime app, about the last departures on each branch before trains stop running.

McCarthy compared a potential winding down of LIRR service to what riders experienced during the Feb. 22 winter storm, when the railroad temporarily suspended service for more than 24 hours.

In the event of a strike, the MTA is encouraging commuters to work from home if possible. Those who can’t will have to drive or rely on limited public transportation options, including shuttle buses running between six locations on Long Island and two subway stations in Queens.

The unions rejected the same deal already accepted by most other MTA unions, including some at the LIRR. That three-year agreement gave workers raises of 3% in each of the first two years, and 3.5% in the third year. That pay will be retroactive, since the first year of the contract dates back to 2023.

Arguing that the raises don’t keep up with the high cost of living increases in recent years, nor with raises handed out to workers at other major railroads, the unions have demanded a fourth year at 5%.

Sammy Chu, of Lindenhurst, who was appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, said he and his fellow board members are "very concerned" about nailing down a contract that the publicly funded MTA can afford.

MTA officials have said paying workers more than they’ve budgeted for could put pressure on the transit authority to further raise fares, reduce service or cut jobs.

"I am as pro-labor as it gets. My entire value system is born from the union movement, but there are a lot of consequences to consider here," Chu said. "We worked really hard ... to get the budget where it needed to be."

As Saturday’s deadline grew closer, the unions illustrated the high stakes with a poster circulated across social media with a clock at 11.

Above the image, these words: "The clock is ticking."