Avoiding LIRR strike is the goal

It’s been more than a decade since Long Island Rail Road riders faced a real possibility of a strike that could put the brakes on the region’s economic lifeline.

In 2014, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’s unions and then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo averted a strike with a last-minute deal that bumped salaries 17.5% over 6½ years and left the unions’ long-derided, arcane and costly work rules in place. So, here we are, 11 years later, having a familiar conversation. As the editorial board said then, “There may have been good reasons for such rules in the distant past, but not anymore.”

We could write the same thing now.

No one wants a strike. Hundreds of thousands of Long Island commuters and business owners depend upon the LIRR. While some potentially could work from home, others, such as police officers, firefighters, nurses, cooks and construction workers, commute to jobs they can’t do remotely. Still other residents head into Manhattan to enjoy theater, restaurants, shops and sights. Depending on timing, a stoppage could impact those celebrating the Jewish holidays, or those attending the Ryder Cup. Ultimately, it would ripple through the Island, hurting our economy and quality of life.

But the MTA should not and cannot cave to unreasonable salary demands that deviate from a pattern already agreed to by more than half the LIRR’s 7,000 unionized workers, whose organizations previously came to deals with the authority at a relatively reasonable salary bump of just over 3% a year. Is there room to negotiate the terms? Sure, but only if the remaining unions agree to eliminate antiquated work rules that don’t improve safety, but just line the pockets of LIRR workers while costing taxpayers and riders more.

Among the most egregious: Locomotive engineers who handle trains in both electric and diesel territories must flip a switch to toggle between the two modes. If they do, they receive a full extra day of pay. In that same day, if they also move a train in one of the LIRR’s railyards, they get another day of pay. In one eight-hour workday, those engineers could earn three days’ worth of pay.

LIRR engineers earned $160,000 on average last year; one earned $353,562. The railroad’s 521 locomotive engineers are all trained and eligible to earn the extra pay, but not all do, since most of the railroad’s territory is fully electric.

It’s time to end that rule and others that only balloon overtime costs and add to the MTA’s financial woes.

The MTA’s offer: a 9.5% wage increase over three years that is, in this moment, seemingly fair. But the five unions threatening to strike want a 16% raise over four years — and won’t consider work rule changes.

That should be a non-starter for the MTA, the LIRR and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who may have to play a role. While everyone should attempt to avoid a strike, that can’t mean caving to unreasonable demands or allowing unsustainable, absurd work rules to stand.

Come to a deal that’s fair for both workers and taxpayers — and keep the trains on track.