MTA says LIRR workers threatening to strike are the highest paid in U.S. Unions cite high cost of living.

MTA managers, making their case against Long Island Rail Road unions' demands for 14.5% raises over four years, say LIRR employees threatening to strike are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the nation.

But LIRR labor leaders argue both their pay and negotiating position are warranted given the high cost of living in New York and recent raises given at other railroads across the country. And they're prepared to walk off the job May 16 if their terms aren't met.

In response to questions from Newsday about how they determined  LIRR workers are the highest paid in the United States, the  Metropolitan Transportation Authority cited numbers showing wages at four key LIRR positions exceeded the median of the next five largest American commuter railroads.

Signal inspectors had the biggest difference among the union positions threatening to strike, according to MTA figures. Their $50.89 top hourly pay in 2025 was 20.7% higher than the $42.17 median at the five other railroads — Metro-North, NJ Transit, Boston’s MBTA, Philadelphia’s SEPTA and Chicago’s Metra. The smallest difference was for LIRR locomotive engineers, whose $54.81 top hourly pay was 3.4% above the $53 median earned at the other railroads.

The MTA has told mediators that median pay was $131,212 in 2024 for employees in the five unions. When including fringe benefits such as health insurance, the average compensation was $200,427 in 2024. For locomotive engineers, the highest paid, it was $241,397. They did not provide totals for workers at the other five railroads.

"They are the highest-paid railroad workers in the nation but have refused the same significant wage increases the vast majority of their colleagues accepted," MTA chief labor and employee relations officer Anita Miller said in a March statement.

LIRR union leaders said those figures give an incomplete picture. They noted  for one position some other railroads pay more. Locomotive engineers at Metro-North and Amtrak can earn $59 an hour — $4 more than the LIRR, according to information provided by the unions.

More broadly, the unions say  LIRR workers’ pay reflects the cost of living in the metropolitan area, which is among the highest in the nation.

When accounting for cost of living, and for special pay outside of regular wages — including for receiving special training — the unions have said several other railroads pay more. Those include Metro-North, NJ Transit, Baltimore’s MARC, Northern California’s Caltrain and Southern California’s Metrolink, the LIRR unions said.

"These are very skilled positions we're talking about here. Our wages are consistent with everybody else in the industry. They want you to believe we just sit here and make all this money and do nothing. We work very, very hard," said Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and a spokesman for the coalition of five railroad unions, at an April 8 news conference in Manhattan.

5% increase request

The five labor organizations, which represent around half of all LIRR union workers, are demanding 14.5% in raises over four years. The MTA wants the unions to accept the same contract already approved by most other transit unions, increasing wages 9.5% over three years. The MTA has offered a fourth year at 4.5%, but only if workers agree to productivity increases and work rule concessions that union leaders say would amount to a pay cut.

Unions are asking the fourth year raise be 5%, without concessions.

Cam McDonald, general counsel of the Empire Center, a conservative-leaning think tank that’s been critical of MTA spending practices, said cost of living differences may not be enough to explain LIRR workers’ disproportionately high income relative to other American railroaders.

The center, in a September report, found the average LIRR locomotive engineer’s hourly pay "is 7 percent higher than the industry norm."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual income for American railroad workers in 2024 was $75,680.

While the unions and federal mediators have both suggested the MTA can afford to pay the LIRR unions the raises they seek with minimal impact to its budget, MTA officials pointed out the rest of the MTA’s 50,000-member workforce would expect similar raises, resulting in an extra $200 million in payroll annually. That could mean doubling the size of the MTA’s next scheduled fare increase in 2027, from 4% to 8%, agency officials said.

"Any deal that gets made does potentially cascade across the entire MTA labor relations arrangement," the MTA's chair and CEO, Janno Lieber, said on April 29. "There’s no new free money sitting around, waiting to be assigned."

Unions have disputed that fares would have to rise by 8% because the MTA, they say, has budget surpluses and additional money from congestion tolling and other sources.

Higher raises at other railroads

Sexton said whether or not LIRR workers are the highest paid in the industry is "not relevant." A better comparison is with wage increases offered at other railroads during the LIRR unions’ proposed 2023-2026 contract period, where other commuter railroads paid higher wage increases.

If the unions don’t agree to any concessions, the MTA has offered raises averaging around 3.1% over each of the four years. The unions, in a chart submitted to federal mediators, documented other railroad unions receiving raises averaging between 4.3% and 7.1% over the same period.

Federal mediators have used a similar argument in siding with the unions. In an October report, a White House-appointed mediation board said that while LIRR workers have historically been paid "at the top of the rates" of all U.S. commuter railroads, "the excellent compensation package ... provides no reason for not providing employees appropriate wage increases."

Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies in the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said the MTA’s efforts to win over public sentiment by pointing out LIRR workers’ high salaries are ultimately paid by riders could backfire.

"To pay them, it might mean my ticket going up in price, yeah. But, do I want to have good workers doing this, getting me there safely?" Wheaton said. "You get what you pay for."

But many riders believe they are already paying a lot. Between Manhattan and Hicksville, the LIRR charges $299.75 for a monthly ticket and $15.25 for a one-way peak ticket. Ronkonkoma commuters pay $394.50 for a monthly pass, and $21.50 for a one-way peak trip. Riders just saw a 4% average fare increase in January, and are due for another one next year.

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.