LIRR strike deadline pushed to May as unions ask for White House intervention
A union request for another round of mediation pushes back a strike deadline from this week. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Long Island Rail Road union leaders on Monday formally requested a second intervention from the White House in their ongoing contract dispute with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, postponing a potential work stoppage that could have otherwise begun on Friday.
Days after disclosing to Newsday their intention to seek another presidential emergency board of mediators, the five unions involved in the contract dispute on Monday said they sent a letter to President Donald Trump making the request.
As mandated in the federal Railway Labor Act, Trump must now appoint a panel of mediators that will consider both sides of the contract dispute and issue non-binding recommendations for a settlement, likely by mid-March.
It will be the second time the two sides go to White House-appointed mediation. At the unions' request in September, Trump impaneled a three-member mediation board that ultimately recommended 14% raises over four years and a $3,000 lump-sum payment.
The recommendation was closer to the 16% hike in a four-year contract sought by the unions than it was to the 9.5% raise in a three-year deal offered by the MTA. Under federal law, the White House can appoint a second, and final, mediation board, before workers can legally walk off the job May 16.
Gilman Lang, general chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, said the unions "felt compelled" to seek further help from the White House, "because of LIRR and the MTA’s refusal to bargain in good faith."
On Friday, LIRR president Rob Free said "the best way to settle this is at the negotiating table," and that management is seeking "a contract that includes meaningful improvements to work rules so we can better serve LIRR riders."
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.
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