SAEDNEWS: Long Island Rail Road commuters dodged an immediate travel collapse Monday after a coalition of five unions asked the Trump administration to appoint a Presidential Emergency Board — an unprecedented move that pushes any strike months down the road and forces federal mediation in a bitter contract fight.
Long Island Rail Road riders will stay on track — for now. A strike that threatened to wreak havoc on commuters was put off for at least several months after union officials made an unusual move on Monday: they formally asked the Trump administration to convene a Presidential Emergency Board to mediate negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
A coalition of five unions told reporters the federal board could review offers from both sides and issue recommendations during mediation that might clear a path to a new contract for roughly half of LIRR workers who had been preparing to strike. Union leaders framed the request as a bid to avoid a service suspension while keeping pressure on the MTA.
“This action does not mean a strike won’t happen,” said Gil Lang, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen’s LIRR engineers. “But it does mean it won’t happen now.” Union officials said the move buys time for federal mediation while preserving members’ right to strike if mediation fails.
Union leaders said the board would examine proposals, hold hearings and offer nonbinding recommendations — a process that triggers a statutory cooling-off period, during which no strike may occur. The union leaders described the step as first-of-its-kind for their ranks and a necessary escalation after stalled bargaining.
The MTA pushed back sharply after the unions’ announcement. “After months of radio silence, these outlier unions have finally admitted that they weren’t serious about negotiating. They never had a plan to resolve this at the bargaining table,” MTA spokesperson John McCarthy said in a statement, accusing union leaders of delaying progress rather than bargaining in good faith.
Governor Kathy Hochul likewise called for the White House to intervene — but with a different tack. She said federal leaders should step in to prevent strikes altogether: “We have to get away from the strike language and the White House and others should be using their power to say ‘you’re not allowed to strike,’” Hochul told reporters. “You cannot strike. Work it out at the table and that’s it.”
The two sides remain far apart over pay. The core disagreement centers on how much of a wage increase the roughly 3,400 workers represented by the coalition should receive. The MTA has offered 9.5% over three years; the unions are pushing for an additional fourth-year bump of 6.5% — a total of about 16% over four years. The MTA says a larger raise would require unions to give up work-rule concessions that it contends inflate labor costs.
Union leaders accused the MTA and state officials of using commuters as leverage in the talks and running a “scare campaign” to “demonize” workers. “The MTA will continue to play their games and scare people,” said BLET vice president Kevin Sexton. “Maybe after today they might dial it down a little.” He said the union is seeking merely to preserve workers’ buying power in the face of rising costs.
In the days before Monday’s announcement, anxious LIRR riders had been contemplating how they would cope if services were halted. About 270,000 commuters rely on the railroad daily to travel between Queens, Long Island and New York City — a strike would have uprooted many commutes and forced some riders to find alternate transportation. The MTA had been preparing contingency plans, including advising remote work where possible and arranging buses for essential employees.
“It’s a nightmare. I’m screwed, I have to go in every day,” said a 37-year-old commuter who spends roughly $400 monthly to reach the city. “I’m going to have to just drive unfortunately.” Another rider, Shannon P., 39, said she would not be able to make it to work at all without train service because she does not drive. Those front-line testimonies underscored the high human stakes in the standoff.
