MTA prepares for LIRR strike as soon as Sept. 18

As more LIRR union workers vote on whether to go on strike as soon as Sept. 18, the MTA is ramping up plans for a possible shutdown of the nation’s largest commuter railroad, including setting up buses to shuttle commuters to Queens subway stations, officials said Friday.

Members of least two unions involved in the ongoing contract dispute — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — began to cast their ballots this week for a possible strike. Two other unions, the Transportation Communications Union and the International Association of Machinists, already approved a possible strike last month.

Asked whether his union would hold a strike vote, Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, would not answer, but, in an email, referenced “internal authorization processes for our members.”

Combined, the five organizations represent just under half of the LIRR’s roughly 7,000 union workers. They’ve rejected an offer already accepted by the majority of LIRR union workers — as well as MTA bus and subway employees — for a three-year contract with 9.5% in total wage increases.

John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations at Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the unions are asking for 16% raises over three years. Union officials would not disclose their position to Newsday.

Kevin Sexton, national vice president for the locomotive engineers’ union, in an interview Thursday said his organization’s demands have been “exceedingly reasonable” and are “just trying to keep pace with employees elsewhere in the rail sector." The union has pointed out that workers at other railroads, including Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, have seen higher wage increases than those offered by the MTA.

“We’re not looking to (strike), but we’re in the process of preparing, if that’s where we end up,” Sexton said.

With federal mediators having declared last month that a voluntary settlement was out of reach, federal law allows for a work stoppage as early as Sept. 18. A strike could be averted, at least temporarily, if either the unions, the MTA, or Gov. Kathy Hochul requests that the White House appoint a “Presidential Emergency Board” of mediators to oversee continued negotiations. Such a move could delay a possible strike until next May. None of the parties have indicated plans to make such a request.

On Friday, McCarthy said with votes being cast, MTA officials are “only now getting clarity of the desire by these unions to strike,” and are beginning to prepare for that possibility, including by alerting nearly 300,000 daily LIRR riders, and their employers.

“As they schedule their strike and announce it, we will be able to make sure our customers, through our TrainTime app and other tools, are aware and can make alternate plans, and what options we’ll have available to them,” McCarthy said.

Reflecting work from home

Unlike when the LIRR last prepared for a strike 11 years ago, McCarthy said the railroad's planning efforts will reflect the fact that many commuters now have the option to work remotely.

"We think we’re dealing with a very different ridership than we did in 2014, where riders have more flexibility with their schedule. Not all riders have that flexibility, but more than in 2014,” McCarthy said.

In the event of a strike, McCarthy said some shuttle bus service will be offered between LIRR stations and subway stations in Queens. The MTA would also work with New York City officials to address traffic and make sure “drop-offs could be made at those subway stations.”

The MTA is also discussing offering partial credits to some monthly LIRR ticket holders, as it’s possible the railroad won’t be running during the second half of September.

Asked whether Manhattan’s congestion pricing program could be suspended during a possible strike, McCarthy said he didn’t expect that would be the case, as the MTA would not want to worsen traffic conditions for Long Island commuters. 

Asked if his organization had any plans to request White House intervention, BLET national president Mark Wallace on Friday told Newsday: "We will not." Jamie Horowitz, a spokesman for the engineers’ union, said there was “no reason to drag this out.”

“We think that stalling or going to the end of the line or having a sword hanging over everybody’s head as to whether there will be (a work stoppage) at some point is absurd,” Horowitz said. “We want this done, and I think that’s part of why we’re taking this vote.” 

MTA officials said it was premature to say whether or not they would ask the Trump Administration to intervene, but McCarthy said “the unions have shown their cards,” have “no interest in negotiations,” and “are not being reasonable.”

Sean Butler, a spokesperson for the governor's office, would not address whether Hochul planned to ask for White House intervention, but said, "It is up to these unions to come to the table and negotiate in good faith."

"The fact that the highest-paid railroad employees in the nation have so far refused to negotiate is unfortunate and will only serve to hurt riders and pit workers against each other," he said in a statement.

MTA officials have said that LIRR workers are already the highest-paid railroad employees in the United States, with locomotive engineers making $49.92 an hour, about 7% above the national average. Including overtime, LIRR engineers averaged more than $160,000 in earnings last year, with the top-paid engineering making $353,562, according to the MTA.

Wallace said that while LIRR engineers earn more than the national average, they also have a higher cost of living. He added that, unlike other unions that accepted the MTA's proposed contract terms years ago, the holdout LIRR unions have "the benefit of being able to look back at what the inflation rate really was" compared to the increase in their pay. "And it wasn't sufficient to keep up with inflation," Wallace said.

Transit officials have suggested a willingess to consider higher wage increases than what other unions have accepted, in exchange for concessions on work rules, including those that can pay engineers an extra day’s wages for minimal extra work, like operating a diesel train and an electric train in the same shift.

“We have to stand of up for the riders,” Lieber said Tuesday. “I think there are a lot of folks . . . a little fed up hearing about these kind of abusive work rules that every other railroad in the United States seems to have gotten rid of, except for the Long Island Rail Road.”

The LIRR recently ordered a new fleet of “dual-mode” trains that can operate both under diesel and electric power, and are expected to reduce payments for violating that work rule.

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.