A potential strike by the Long Island Rail Road’s unionized work force could happen on May 16, just one week before Memorial Day weekend, with further negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and L.I.R.R. management scheduled for today.
The five unions making up the Coalition of Long Island Rail Road Unions met with M.T.A. and L.I.R.R. management in New York City on Monday. It was just the second time that direct negotiations had been held between the unions and management since August 2025 and came after a direct appeal to the M.T.A. board during the public comment portion of an April 29 M.T.A. board meeting, according to the coalition.
“The M.T.A.’s responsibility should be to serve the public and to keep the Long Island Rail Road moving,” Gil Lang, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen at the Long Island Rail Road, said at that April 29 meeting. “Instead, since the last meeting that we requested, 40 days have passed. No response. No new bargaining session. No counterproposal. No sense of urgency. That delay is on the M.T.A. Rather than working toward a settlement, the M.T.A. is preparing the public for failure — talking about limited bus service and ignoring the gridlock that will paralyze Long Island if the trains stop running. That is not a plan. That is not leadership.”
Janno Lieber, the M.T.A.’s chairman and chief executive officer, rejected those assertions. “I suggest that those L.I.R.R. unions who said that they want to resolve it today go in the back room” with Anita Miller, the M.T.A.’s chief labor and employee relations officer, and Rob Free, the L.I.R.R.’s president, he said. “We’ve been trying to negotiate this for some time, so let’s go. . . . I think we both very much want to get something going, and the suggestion that the M.T.A. has not been willing to negotiate is nonsense.”
According to the M.T.A., both parties agree about retroactive general wage increases of 3 percent in June 2023 and June 2024, and 3.5 percent in June 2025, over the wages then in effect. The M.T.A. has offered a 3-percent general wage increase for 2026, while the five unions have requested a 5-percent increase.
The coalition’s proposed wage increases would set a new pattern for 2026, ahead of any other union agreement, according to the M.T.A., and “wage increases above budget have implications for the M.T.A., state, and [New York] City budgets.”
The unions’ requested wage increase could be funded with what the M.T.A. calls “reasonable changes to work rules.” These are a reduction of the full extra day’s penalty pay that is currently required when engineers operate both electric and diesel trains on the same day or operate trains in regular passenger service and then are directed to move the train to a yard, which may be added to other penalty pay; enhancement of customer service by having ticket clerks, who are now restricted to selling tickets behind a window, provide customer service at station platforms, and restricting employees from working more than 18 continuous hours.
An agreement without those work rule changes, the M.T.A. says, might have to be funded by higher fares, higher taxes, service cuts, or headcount reductions.
Shanifah Rieara, the M.T.A.’s chief customer officer, discussed contingency plans at the April 29 board meeting. Service to and from the South Fork was not mentioned. Rather, she discussed measures aimed at commuters to New York City, specifically a limited shuttle service to connection points in Queens.
“For the time being, we encourage our customers to work remotely if at all possible,” she said. “We anticipate thousands of customers will be driven in cars and dropped off at subway stations.” The M.T.A. will issue, pending board approval, a prorated refund to May monthly ticket holders who are impacted by a strike during the business day, she said.
“We have advised department heads to begin thinking about possible remote work for any affected employees, or flextime if it’s requested,” Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at the East Hampton Town Board’s meeting on Tuesday. The railroad will continue to update the town, she added. “I believe they’re going to be holding a meeting every day next week for town officials.”
The L.I.R.R. is the busiest commuter railroad in the nation, its ridership in 2025 totaling more than 81 million passengers. A strike “would be devastating to the region’s economy and businesses because it is critical to moving workers, customers, and visitors,” Stacey Sikes, acting president and chief executive officer of the Long Island Association, said in a statement.
The association, she said, “is deeply concerned about the harmful impact a strike could have as we head into peak tourism season on Long Island, resulting in lost tax revenues and sales, combined with greater traffic congestion. We urge all parties to reach a swift resolution to avoid economic consequences.”
The coalition of unions plans to hold a rally to protest what it calls inaction by the M.T.A. and L.I.R.R. on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Massapequa L.I.R.R. station’s Parking Field 5.
