LIRR workers strike, shutting down country's largest commuter rail

Long Island Rail Road employees went on strike Saturday for the first time since 1994, after eleventh-hour bargaining between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and labor unions representing 3,500 employees failed to yield a deal.

Union and MTA officials came out of talks shortly after midnight and held separate news conferences, trading accusations of negotiating in bad faith. There was no timetable for the next round of talks and union officials said the sides were "far apart."

"We are truly sorry that we’re in this situation,” union coalition spokesman Kevin Sexton said. “We do not know the duration of this strike at this time.”

Sexton said the unions showed willingness to “move down a little bit” from their demands for 5% wage increases in the fourth year of a new contract, but MTA officials came in with an “eleventh hour” proposal for new LIRR employees to contribute to their healthcare, Sexton said.

MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said the average wage of striking workers was $136,000, and said the raises they're asking for would shift costs to riders through higher fares.

"It's shocking that they're representing they're underpaid, given their history of gobbling up overtime," he said. He accused the unions of always intending to strike.

Riders in the days leading up to the strike had scrambled to make contingency plans in advance of the looming strike, a headache compounded by an unrelated track fire that severely limited service into and out of Penn Station, the main terminus for the nation’s largest commuter railroad.

Business leaders warned that the LIRR strike would keep some workers from getting to their jobs and hurt local employers who rely on people coming in by train. Ahead of Memorial Day weekend — the beginning of Long Island’s peak tourism season — a strike could be especially impactful, experts said.

The labor organizations, which represent locomotive engineers, signal inspectors, electricians, machinists and ticket clerks, had refused to accept the same deal already agreed to 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 a third year.

Arguing that the raises don’t keep up with high cost of living increases in recent years, nor with raises handed out to workers at other major railroads, the unions demanded a fourth year with wage increases high enough to offset those in the first three years. The monthly increases in the Consumer Price Index for the metro area have ranged between 2.5% and 4.6% since April 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unions initially asked for raises of 6.5% in a fourth year, but had since come down to 5%. Union leaders early Saturday said they came down further.

MTA leaders said they offered 4.5% raises, and countered that the members of the five unions are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the nation. And, because other MTA unions would expect the same terms, MTA officials said giving out those raises would mean doubling the size of their next planned fare hike, to 8%, cutting service, raising taxes or laying off workers.

The unions called those threats "fear mongering," and noted that the MTA closed out 2025 with a $765 million operating budget surplus, and has seen a windfall of new revenue from congestion pricing tolls and state casino fees.

Sexton said MTA negotiators in the final hours brought up new hires making contributions to their health care.

Marathon negotiations this week

MTA officials initially had used the negotiations as an opportunity to make changes to restrictive union work rules that they have said hinder productivity and can allow employees to pile on extra pay. One rule the MTA sought to change pays locomotive engineers a second day’s salary for operating a diesel and an electric train in the same shift.

In exchange for concessions on those rules, the MTA was offering raises of 4.5% in the fourth year. After labor leaders refused to put the work rules on the table, negotiations last week shifted largely to the amount of compensation for workers.

The MTA’s chief negotiator, Gary Dellaverson, said Wednesday that the MTA had come up with a $134 million offer that would give workers the financial equivalent of 4.5% raises in the fourth year of a deal — the amount recommended by federal mediators.

But, because the money would come in the form of one-time lump sum payments, rather than a permanent increase to wages, the contract would be more affordable for the MTA and not set a precedent for other unions.

Union officials repeatedly rejected lump sum payments, which would not increase workers’ base pay ahead of their next contract negotiation.

Weighing in on the negotiations, Gov. Kathy Hochul early Saturday criticized the unions.

"The decision by some unions to strike over demands that would threaten that progress is reckless," according to a statement. "These unions represent the highest paid workers of any railroad in the nation, yet they are demanding contracts that could raise fares as much as 8%, pit workers against one another, and risk tax hikes for Long Islanders. This is unacceptable."

Contingency plan

Weekend riders will be on their own, but the LIRR beginning on Monday will run six shuttle bus routes from Hempstead Lake State Park, as well as the Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Hicksville, Bay Shore and Mineola LIRR stations, and head toward subway stations in Queens, at Jamaica and Howard Beach, and in reverse in the evening.

According to MTA chief customer service officer Shanifah Rieara, those shuttle buses can accommodate just 13,000 during each commute, less than 10% of the LIRR’s daily ridership. Newsday reported this week that the time it takes to commute could double in some cases for those who use the shuttle/subway service. And the shuttle buses — which are free, although the subway ticket isn’t — will run only on weekdays.

Some riders braced for higher commute costs, or said they'd opt not to travel for work altogether.

Alex Petty, a staffer at Stony Brook University’s arts center, commutes to campus on the LIRR every day from Queens, and worries about getting back for graduation next week.

"Next week is commencement, so it’s a really big thing for a lot of the students," he said at the Stony Brook LIRR station on Friday afternoon. "I have no idea what I am going to do."

Without a car, his backup plan is to spend about $150 on a rental car and contend with traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

But he said the extra hassle is a small price to pay for union workers to get a good deal. "I’m all for a strong union. If this is what they need to do to protect their livelihood then so be it," he said.

Ben Altos, 45, normally relies on the LIRR to get from his home in Brooklyn to music gigs in Suffolk. But he'd need a $500 round-trip Uber instead if the LIRR goes on strike.

"I wouldn’t come back until they run the trains again," he said. "I would be losing too much money."

The LIRR is urging that commuters work from home — and that employers permit the accommodation.

Economic impact

The economic impact of a strike is expected to be tens of millions of dollars — $70 million a day, according to an estimate by the Long Island Association business group, and up to $61 million a day, according to an estimate by the office of the state comptroller, Tom DiNapoli.

On Friday, LIRR president Rob Free said that the unions assured the MTA that workers aboard trains would stay on the job even if a strike is called and it’s past midnight but passengers are aboard a train that hasn’t yet reached its destination.

"The trains will make it to their final destination," he said.

Jaime Horwitz, the union spokesman, said the five unions have agreed to the arrangement.

Prorated refunds to monthly ticket holders will be issued in the event of a strike to cover any business day on which service is suspended due to the strike, the MTA wrote on its website.

Meanwhile, at Penn Station on Friday, service was a fraction of normal, as Amtrak, which owns the tunnels used by the LIRR, worked to fix power cables damaged in the tunnels, just east of Penn.

By Friday night, Amtrak had fixed the tunnels, said Jason Abrams, an Amtrak spokesman, and the LIRR could resume service starting at 5 a.m. on Saturday, if there was no strike.

Newsday's Sam Kmack contributed to this story.