LIRR union president calls for strike vote over impasse

Having reached an impasse in negotiations for a new contract, the head of a Long Island Rail Road union representing more than 1,300 workers is calling for members to vote on a strike. MTA officials and railway law experts said the move was premature and it could be years before workers legally walked off the job.

In a letter obtained by Newsday, Artie Maratea, national president of the Transportation Communications Union/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (TCU/IAM), citing a “standstill in bargaining with the LIRR,” directed local union leaders to hold a strike vote by Aug. 15. Maratea said in the letter that the move is necessary to “obtain a fair settlement” from the LIRR and to defend workers from “any adverse action” from management.

“Walking a picket line is one of the highest callings a Union can ask of its members. This decision was not made lightly,” wrote Maratea, who's based in Washington. “I sincerely hope that LIRR will come to its senses and agree to a fair settlement. So far, however, they have shown no signs of doing so.”

The call for a strike vote comes while the union and several others remain deadlocked in negotiations with railroad management over a new deal.

The unions have rejected an offer for a three-year contract with 9.5% in raises, similar to terms already accepted by other labor organizations at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the railroad’s parent organization — including unions representing more than half of LIRR workers, according to the MTA.

The TCU/IAM, which represents several types of workers including ticket agents, and other unions have called for higher raises that they say are in line with those offered by other railroads throughout the United States.

Although Maratea called for the vote to be taken “as soon as possible,” a legal work stoppage could only come at the end of a complex, federally regulated procedure that could take years to conclude, and involve intervention from the White House. Both the unions and LIRR management would have to first be released from federal mediation, which could take years, experts said.

In a statement, John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations for the MTA, said “there is no near-term risk” of a strike.

“Consistent with federal law, the MTA and this union are engaged in mediation before the National Mediation Board, and that process has a long way to go before any strike action would be possible,” McCarthy said.

TCU/IAM union officials declined to comment, and directed questions to LIRR locomotive engineers’ union leader Kevin Sexton, who is leading negotiations on behalf of the unions involved in the contract dispute. Sexton did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s been 31 years since LIRR unions last went on strike — a three-day work stoppage that began on a Friday and was resolved in time for the Monday morning rush hour.

LIRR union workers last voted to go on strike in 2014. Following Barack Obama’s appointment of two “Presidential Emergency Boards,” an 11th-hour resolution involving then-Governor Andrew M. Cuomo averted a shutdown.

Philip Dinhofer, a Rockville Centre attorney who specializes in LIRR cases, confirmed that there is a “specific sequence of events that must be followed in order to have a strike,” and that such a move could only come as an absolute last resort.

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.