{"id":804966,"date":"2026-05-18T11:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804966\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T11:38:16","slug":"lirr-strike-day-3-where-things-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804966\/","title":{"rendered":"LIRR strike Day 3: Where things stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LIRR <\/p>\n

LONG ISLAND, NY<\/strong> – Over the weekend, thousands of Long Island Railroad workers from five separate unions began a strike<\/a> after weeks of negotiations failed to materialize into a new labor contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, for the first time in 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders are without service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday night, the National Mediation Board called both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the five unions to a meeting in Manhattan in an effort to restart stalled contract negotiations.<\/p>\n

Why the strike is happening <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the talks broke down over the proposed fourth deal for a new contract.<\/p>\n

\"LIRR <\/p>\n

The unions say they want a 5% raise in the final year. The MTA is offering 3% plus additional lump sum payments, making it, in effect, a 4.5% raise.<\/p>\n

The MTA says going any higher would mean raising fares by as much as 8% next year, or cutting service.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Jim Louis, who was at the negotiating table late Friday, told FOX 5 NY<\/strong>\u2019s Stephanie Bertini the unions believed a deal was close until MTA negotiators introduced new health care-related proposals “that were never discussed,” derailing talks.<\/p>\n

Union leaders blamed the MTA for the strike, with IAM District 19 General Chairman Shaun O\u2019Connor calling it a “management-provoked strike.”<\/p>\n

Late Friday, MTA CEO Janno Lieber defended the agency\u2019s position, saying the proposed deal would “implode the MTA\u2019s budget” and force riders and taxpayers to fund “outsized wage increases.”<\/p>\n

\"LIRR <\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul called the strike “reckless” and the unions\u2019 contract demands “unacceptable” in a statement, warning they could lead to fare hikes and higher taxes for Long Islanders.<\/p>\n

She also blamed the Trump administration for ending mediation early and allowing negotiations to move toward a strike.<\/p>\n

In response, President Donald Trump denied responsibility<\/a> in a Truth Social post, blaming Hochul for the labor dispute and saying he could “properly get things done” if needed.<\/p>\n

Hochul later reiterated that the strike was only possible because the Trump administration authorized it<\/a> earlier this year; in January, an executive order authorized a Presidential Emergency Board under the Railway Labor Act, temporarily blocking a strike and extending negotiations between the LIRR and its unions.<\/p>\n

\"FULL: <\/p>\n

Under federal law<\/a>, the move triggered a mandatory cooling-off period, preventing workers from striking while negotiations and mediation continued. Once that period expired without a deal, unions were legally allowed to walk off the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that City Hall and city agencies are coordinating contingency plans as negotiations continue.<\/p>\n

He warned commuters to expect heavier traffic, crowded transit and longer travel times, while noting the MTA plans limited weekday bus service for essential workers and others unable to work remotely.<\/p>\n

Alternative travel options\u00a0 <\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

To ease disruptions, free weekday shuttle buses for essential workers will run from six Nassau and Suffolk County locations to Queens subway stations during morning and evening rush hours, according to state officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Routes include service from Bay Shore, Huntington, Ronkonkoma, Hicksville and Mineola to subway connections in Queens and at Howard Beach-JFK Airport.<\/p>\n

NICE Bus is also adding weekday service with direct connections to Queens subway hubs, including Jamaica Center, Flushing-Main Street and Far Rockaway, according to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, commuters can park at Citi Field for $6 and transfer to the 7 train, which officials say will run every two to three minutes.<\/p>\n

The MTA said subway lines, including the 7, A, E, F, J and Z, have enough capacity to handle increased ridership, with extra “gap trains” ready if stations become overcrowded.<\/p>\n

The Source:<\/b> Information Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the MTA, The White House, Truth Social, the National Mediation Board and previous FOX 5 NY reporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Long Island Railroad<\/a>News<\/a>New York<\/a>Transportation<\/a>Long Island<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONG ISLAND, NY – Over the weekend, thousands of Long Island Railroad workers from five separate unions began…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":804967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,10209,6084,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,12632,522,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-804966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-lirr","tag-long-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-organization","tag-transportation","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}