MTA says LIRR probationary workers will be fired if they strike

The Long Island Rail Road has informed unions that probationary employees will be fired if they go on strike, according to documents obtained by Newsday.

LIRR union leaders suggested the move, which they called a "troubling" threat, could be illegal, and an MTA board member criticized it as an escalation of tactics during negotiations.

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," which could come as soon as 12:01 a.m. Saturday if the MTA and the unions don’t reach a contract agreement.

The memo said that the probationary employees’ failure to show up for work during a strike "may result in your termination."

New hires are required to serve probationary periods of a year, according to union officials.

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 that, 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."

Check back for updates on this developing story.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.