The Trump administration has agreed to get involved in contract negotiations between five unions representing Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), temporarily averting a potential strike.
A planned work stoppage by approximately 3,700 LIRR employees, which was scheduled to have begun this week, has been halted. LIRR service will continue uninterrupted.
The calls for federal intervention came at the unions’ request. Under the Railway Labor Act, the union coalition has the right to ask the president to appoint a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to investigate disputes between rail carriers and unions, and recommend solutions.
Trump has established a PEB to help negotiate the contract dispute between the MTA and the coalition of five unions: the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Transportation Communications Union (TCU).
The newly formed board is mandated to issue a report on the negotiations to Trump within 30 days. This action prevents a walk-out strike until at least May of next year.
Coalition members said they are asking for the PEB because they have not been receiving any support from Governor Kathy Hochul. “For more than two years, our members have heard excuse after excuse for why they cannot get a fair contract,” said Nick Peluso, national vice president of the TCU. “The clock has run out. Our members deserve raises that reflect their vital role in keeping the LIRR running and serving millions of riders. The time for excuses is over.”
Peluso continued, “Unfortunately, it appears the LIRR and the MTA have convinced Gov. Hochul that her hands are tied, so, instead of working with labor to reach a productive solution, Gov. Hochul has decided to play games. Games of political convenience and the worn-out ‘blame game’ of blaming the current administration. This is nonsense. She knows it, we know it, and the riding public should know it, too.
“We are confident we will secure an agreement that meets our members’ expectations, and we will not stop fighting until we do.”
John J. McCarthy, MTA Chief of Policy and External Relations, issued a stern statement in response to the unions’ request for the Trump administration to intervene. He criticized the unions and claimed they weren’t serious about negotiating. He called the emergency board request a “cynical delay” that serves no one.
“If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration,” McCarthy said. “And if they don’t want to strike, they should say so — and finally show up to the negotiating table.”
Union demands/MTA’s response
The push for mediation by the federal government came after a near-unanimous 99.9% strike authorization vote by BLET members on September 15.
The unions are seeking a 16% raise over a four-year period. Its members say they have not received a salary increase since April 16, 2022. Their ongoing contract dispute with the MTA has been in arbitration since February 2024.
Reports are that the MTA offered the unions a three-year contract with more than 3% fractional increases that totaled out at 9.5%. While other LIRR unions accepted that offer, these five unions rejected it. Instead, they want to match the agreements secured by rail workers elsewhere in the country.