This column originally appeared in On The Way,<\/b> a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a> to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.<\/p>\n Long Island Rail Road workers across five unions are threatening to go on strike as soon as next Thursday, a move that would shut down the country\u2019s busiest commuter railroad serving 300,000 daily riders.<\/p>\n The potential walkout comes four months after NJ Transit\u2019s locomotive engineers went on strike for three days<\/a>. Teachers missed classes, nurses were late meeting patients and riders who had already bought monthly passes had to pay out of pocket for alternative modes of transportation.<\/p>\n But the fallout from an LIRR strike would likely be even worse. While New Jersey commuter railroad riders had several alternatives<\/a> to get into the city during the work stoppage \u2014 like the PATH train, ferry service, Amtrak and a sprawling network of buses that run into the Port Authority bus terminal \u2014 Long Islanders who rely on mass transit would be all but stranded by a strike.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWe\u2019re f\u2014ed,\u201d lamented LIRR commuter Sharon Hersh. \u201cI would not come into the city because I’m not going to sit in traffic for three hours and then pay $100 to park my car, or get a $100 ticket on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n NJ Transit officials urged commuters to work from home if they could during last May\u2019s strike, and MTA officials suggested the same thing in the event of a LIRR strike. But Hersh said that\u2019s not an option for her: She owns a shop called Balloon Saloon in Tribeca, and takes the LIRR into the city every day except Sunday. A labor strike, she said, would literally deflate her business.<\/p>\n The MTA hasn\u2019t yet released an alternative service plan, but officials have floated the idea of running extra buses that would connect to subways in Queens.<\/p>\n Gerard Brigmann, the advocate for LIRR riders on the MTA board, recalled when the railroad\u2019s workers went on strike in 1987, and said the shuttle buses provided by the MTA were a nightmare.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aSometimes the buses won’t pull out until they have a full load,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you could get to your bus and sit there for half an hour or 20 minutes \u2026\u200a and then the buses aren’t necessarily going to go where you want them to go, or leave from where you want them to leave from because they can’t possibly cover every station.\u201d<\/p>\n That strike lasted for 11 days and was resolved after President Ronald Reagan intervened.<\/p>\n In this case, Gov. Kathy Hochul is already blaming President Donald Trump for the potential strike. She said his administration\u2019s National Mediation Board that was arbitrating the contract dispute allowed the workers to walk away from the table, effectively setting the stage for a walkout as soon as next week.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThe White House already intervened and they screwed us in the process,\u201d Hochul said Wednesday. \u201cThey never should have given license to stop the negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the federal Railway Labor Act, Hochul could request that the president establish an emergency board to mediate the contract dispute and avert a strike. She has so far declined to do so.<\/p>\n The five LIRR unions threatening a strike have been without a new contract for three years. The group sent a letter to Hochul on Tuesday alleging the MTA \u201ccontinues to misrepresent the status of negotiations in the press,\u201d and disputing that the end of mediation was a decision by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n The unions are seeking raises that are in line with the high cost of inflation and go beyond what other MTA unions recently received. MTA officials said unions want a 16% raise the agency can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n The dispute puts Hochul and the MTA between a rock and a hard place. A strike would disrupt commuters\u2019 lives for days or weeks. But transit officials said agreeing to the union\u2019s current demands would force the agency to increase fares beyond the 4% biannual increases to cover the wage increases.<\/p>\n MTA spokesperson John McCarthy said the agency\u2019s fares are directly tied to its labor costs.<\/p>\n \u201dIt’s pretty clear the way we budget is based on what we put in dollar value for our labor contracts,\u201d he said. “\u200aThe bottom line is we don’t want a strike, our riders don’t want a strike, and we would hope that the people who work on the railroad wouldn’t want to have a strike.”<\/p>\n Curious Commuter<\/b><\/p>\n Have a question for us? Use this form<\/a> to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!<\/p>\n Curious Commuter questions are exclusive for On The Way newsletter subscribers. Sign up for free here.<\/a><\/p>\n Question from Aron in Brooklyn<\/b><\/p>\n Why is the MTA opting for light rail service on the new Interborough [Express] line?<\/p>\n Answer<\/b><\/p>\n