MTA board approves LIRR union contracts with almost 15% raises over 4 years

The MTA board gave final approval Wednesday to new Long Island Rail Road union contracts that raise workers’ wages by about 15% over four years.

The ratification of the deals with five unions brings to a close a historic labor dispute that began more than three years ago and culminated last month in the LIRR’s first union strike in more than three decades.

The new four-year pacts — achieved after a three-day work stoppage involving about half the railroad’s 7,000-member organized workforce — give employees at the five unions annual raises of 3% in the first two years, 3.5% in the third and 4.5% in the fourth. Compounded, the raises will amount to a 14.7% pay bump. The unions ratified the agreements by large margins last week.

Union and state sources have said that although the sizes of the annual raises were agreed upon before the strike deadline, it wasn't until the third day of the work stoppage that both sides finalized concessions that made the deal affordable to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The final deal includes an agreement for workers to undergo computer-based training outside of work hours and a six-week extension of their contract.

MTA chairman Janno Lieber said the concessions reduced the cost of the 4.5% raise in the fourth year of the deal by 0.7%.

"In the end, seven-tenths of a point is real money," Lieber said. "We were definitely standing our ground to make sure that the real cost to the MTA was one we could manage, and we accomplished that."

The contracts are retroactive to 2023, and last through next year.

The five unions — which represent locomotive engineers, signal inspectors, electricians, machinists and ticket clerks — refused to accept the same three-year deal reached with most other MTA unions, arguing that it didn’t keep up with the soaring cost of living. The labor organizations demanded a fourth year with a raise high enough to offset the other years.

LIRR labor leaders on Wednesday celebrated the end of the contract fight, and what they've called a victory for their members. Nicholas Peluso, vice president for the Transportation Communications Union, said he was pleased over the board's ratification of a contract with "fair wage increases that our members have earned and deserve."

Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, praised LIRR negotiators for being "professionals the whole time," and said the settlement shows the importance of getting "the high-priced law firms, the politicians and the agency heads out of the bargaining room."

MTA officials initially said paying the unions higher raises than budgeted for could result in steep fare hikes and tax increases if they were not accompanied by changes to work rules that give employees significant pay for minimal extra work. No such concessions were included in the final deal, but MTA officials have said it will have no financial impact on riders.

Lieber said Wednesday the contract settlement was a reminder of the difficulty of doing away with "100-year-old work rules that outrage the public," if unions aren't willing to part with them. MTA officials last week partially blamed work rules for the fact that 328 LIRR workers made more than $100,000 in overtime last year — more than any other agency at the transit authority.

"We’re stuck with it," Lieber said of work rules. "The public is stuck with it forever, paying massive overtime, if they just don’t want to negotiate it, no matter how unfair and irrational it seems to everybody."

LIRR labor leaders have disputed that work rules were a priority for MTA managers during most of the negotiations. And they've said high overtime rates are due to understaffing and ineffective management.

The MTA board's approval of the new contracts did not include a vote from a Nassau County representative, following the recent departure of David Mack, who held the post for much of the last 30 years. Mack has said he no-showed a Senate confirmation hearing last month because of a scheduling conflict. State lawmakers said Mack did not have the votes to be reconfirmed.

Lieber said, despite their "disagreements," he found Mack to be "always a cheerful and positive" member of the board.

"And somebody who served the MTA that long deserves to be acknowledged," Lieber said. "So a tip of the hat to David Mack."

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.