Gov. Kathy Hochul: Focus is on deal to prevent strike by LIRR workers

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday she’s committed to getting LIRR workers a "deal that is going to prevent a strike" just five days away.

Hochul, at an unrelated news conference, said she and her team are "immersed in the details" of the ongoing labor negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and five unions representing nearly 3,500 LIRR workers. If unresolved, the unions have said they will go on strike beginning Saturday, shutting down the nation’s largest commuter railroad and displacing about 270,000 daily riders.

"I am involved," said Hochul, who oversees the MTA and appoints many of its board members. "We just want to make sure that New York is affordable for everyone and make sure, as they negotiate, that they get the deal that is going to prevent a strike. I’m committed to that."

After failing to reach a deal at a pair of negotiating sessions last week, both sides returned to the bargaining table in Bethpage on Monday for negotiations overseen by the National Mediation Board.

A union coalition spokesman said Monday's bargaining session ended with no settlement and little progress made. He said both sides are set to meet again Wednesday.

In a statement, the MTA said it made "a revised proposal" during Monday's talks, but offered no details of the latest offer.

Both sides are stuck on the terms of the last year of a four-year contract. The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, electricians, signal inspectors, machinists and ticket clerks, have demanded raises of 5% in the fourth year of a deal. The MTA has offered 3%, and said they’d go as high as 4.5% if the raises were offset by productivity increases and work rule concessions.

On Friday, MTA chairman Janno Lieber said the transit authority had made a new offer that included additional money for workers, but the unions dismissed it as being made up of "gimmicks," like lump sum payments, rather than wage increases that keep up with inflation.

On Saturday, the unions drew about 400 people to a Massapequa rally, where they were joined by other labor leaders and Republican and Democratic elected officials. An MTA spokesman called it a "rally for a fare hike," because of the potential for wage increases to drive up LIRR ticket prices.

On Monday, Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, said the MTA strategy is to "deflect, distort, dither and denigrate" even as the strike date grows nearer.

"It’s time for management to get serious about negotiating wages," Sullivan said in a statement.

Hochul said among the issues her office is tracking is "what can be afforded" and "what sets the pattern for other unions."

The MTA just began negotiations with its biggest labor organization, the Transport Workers Union representing 42,000 city bus and subway employees. The union’s leader has said the terms of the last year of the LIRR unions’ negotiated deal could become the terms of his the first year of his members’ next contract.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.