MTA backs off LIRR work rule concessions in strike negotiations, sources say

Four days ahead of a potential Long Island Rail Road strike, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is no longer focused on work rule concessions that it had been demanding in negotiations with unions, MTA officials said Tuesday.

Both sides are on the same page about the first three years of a deal, with raises of 3% in the first two years and 3.5% in the third. To offset the rising cost of living, workers are demanding 5% raises in the fourth year. The MTA has offered 3% in a fourth year, or as high as 4.5% if workers fund the extra pay through productivity increases and work rule concessions.

Agency representatives insisted for months that the concessions were necessary to fund raises. But on Tuesday, two MTA officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said the rules were no longer a key part of discussions, since the unions have made it clear they will not consider changes to collectively bargained work rules. 

Among the changes the MTA had been targeting were barring 18 hours of consecutive overtime in most instances; no longer paying locomotive engineers double when they operate both a diesel and electric train during the same shift; and expanding the duties of LIRR station agents and clerks beyond selling tickets.

The MTA backing off its demand for work rule concessions would appear to clear an obstacle that had stood in the way of a settlement that would avoid the first LIRR strike since 1994.

With the unions refusing to consider work rule givebacks, MTA officials said talks have shifted to finding other ways to bridge the gap between the two sides. Union officials have said the MTA's recent offers have consisted of lump sump payments and other "gimmicks." MTA officials have warned if union demands are met, fares could rise as much as 8% next year or service cutbacks could be necessary.

Unions officials declined Tuesday to address the work rule concessions, other than to say the MTA hadn't brought those up until recently. 

At a Massapequa labor rally on Saturday, LIRR locomotive engineers' union chairman Gilman Lang called the notion of funding raises through work rule concessions "laughable."

"You worked holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. You missed your kids' first everything," Lang said. "After all that sacrifice, they want to come to the bargaining table and tell us we should be grateful for less."

But MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber, defending the transit authority's record-setting $1.5 billion overtime bill last year to state lawmakers in February, pointed to restrictive LIRR work rules that make "no sense." 

"We can’t just pretend that I can make the unions negotiate work rules that they historically refuse to discuss," Lieber said. "If we got rid of some of the work rules that automatically give people overtime, I think we can make some progress."

MTA managers have long spoken of the need to reform LIRR work rules, including some dating back to the 19th century. But they have historically been sacrosanct among unions, even if it has meant accepting more modest wage increases to keep work rule concessions off the table.

"While management may view work rules as standing in the way of productivity improvements, labor views them as previously bargained for," said Frank Wilner, a former White House-appointed chief of staff at the Surface Transportation Board and author of Understanding the Railway Labor Act.

Wilner noted some work rules "were originally paid for by labor in lieu of greater compensation."

Both sides were set to return to the bargaining table Wednesday.

Weighing in on the contract fight Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is committed to getting LIRR workers "the deal that is going to prevent a strike," but is also mindful about what the MTA — a state public authority — can afford, and the precedent that could be set for other unions.

Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen and a spokesman for the LIRR union coalition, on Tuesday said Hochul’s remarks "are encouraging."

"We would like to settle this without a strike. We want to keep the trains moving," Sexton said in a statement. "However, we need managers across the table who show up and are committed to getting a deal done."

In contrast to the unions' assertion that progress has been minimal, MTA chief of policy and external communications John McCarthy said Tuesday he believes the two sides are "very close" to a deal.

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.