White House appoints LIRR mediation panel

President Donald Trump is again intervening in the ongoing contract dispute between the MTA and LIRR unions workers who could go on strike this spring.

Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order establishing a second emergency board of mediators to "investigate and report" on the contract impasse between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and five labor organizations representing about half of all Long Island Rail Road union workers.

The unions on Monday requested intervention from the White House, effectively postponing a potential work stoppage that otherwise could have started on Friday.

Following an earlier request from the unions, Trump in September 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.

Federal law allows for the appointment of two presidential emergency boards before unions can legally go on strike in mid-May.

In a statement Monday, Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, said proposals coming from the coalition of five unions "are not extreme, and they are supported by the findings of the first" mediation board appointed by Trump.

MTA leaders have said they’re eager to return to the bargaining table, but have said any raises beyond the 9.5%, 3-year deal already accepted by most unions would have to come with work-rule concessions.

"We look forward to (the unions) showing up to negotiate a contract that includes meaningful improvements to work rules so we can better serve LIRR riders," LIRR President Rob Free said in a statement Friday.

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.