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The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is bracing for a potential strike as more than 6,700 employees may walk off the job if a new contract agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority isn't reached by Thursday, May 16. The union is demanding a 5% pay raise for the fourth year of the contract, while the MTA is offering 3%, citing budget constraints.
Union leaders and the MTA have been locked in negotiations, with both sides digging in over the final year of the contract. The union, which includes the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, argues that the MTA can afford the raises without requiring changes to work rules. However, MTA Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel warned that meeting the union's demands could strain the agency's budget and potentially lead to an 8% fare hike for riders next year.
A recent MTA board meeting saw tensions flare as union representatives confronted agency leaders, prompting an unscheduled bargaining session. Gilman Lang of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen stated, "We have made compromises in our ask and are ready to sit down at the bargaining table to reach an agreement now."
The MTA has proposed a contingency plan should a strike occur, which includes shuttle buses transporting commuters from Long Island to subway stations in Queens. Planned routes include Huntington to Jamaica–179th Street, Ronkonkoma to Jamaica–179th Street, and others.
Despite the ongoing talks, the two sides have not reached an agreement. The unions have been without a raise for three years, and a Presidential Emergency Board previously supported the union's raise request. If no agreement is reached by the deadline, it would mark the first LIRR strike in nearly 40 years, potentially affecting over 250,000 daily commuters.
As negotiations continue, commuters are left anxiously awaiting the outcome. Alex Valentin, a commuter from Centereach, expressed concern, saying, "I hope they get an agreement and this doesn’t happen because it’s going to hurt a lot of people."