MTA, union return to bargaining table but fail to reach agreement on avoiding LIRR strike

Less than two weeks out from a potential Long Island Rail Road union strike, MTA managers and LIRR labor leaders failed to reach a settlement as they returned to the bargaining table Monday, union officials said.

But for a brief, impromptu conference during a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board meeting Wednesday, it was just the second meeting this year between MTA managers and representatives from the five labor organizations representing around half of the LIRR’s 7,000 union workers.

The unions have threatened to go on strike beginning May 16 if they cannot come to a settlement in a three-year-long labor dispute with the MTA. The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, electricians, machinists, signal inspectors and ticket clerks, want a four-year deal with raises totaling 14.5%.

The MTA has offered wage increases totaling 12.5% over four years, or 14% if the unions agree to various productivity increases and work rule concessions.

The coalition of unions, in a statement, said the Manhattan bargaining session concluded without a deal, but that "both parties have agreed to hold further talks this coming Thursday, May 7."

The MTA, in a statement, confirmed that both sides met Monday and are set to meet again later this week. "The path to a deal is through good faith bargaining which is ongoing," the MTA said in its statement.

The unions on Monday also announced plans for a Saturday rally in Massapequa that they’ve called "a day of action to protest MTA/LIRR inaction."

In a flyer circulated by the unions, they said "union members, leadership, and elected officials will stand together in solidarity as negotiations continue."

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.