LIRR strike: What was at stake

Updating antiquated work rules should've be back on the negotiating table as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Long Island Rail Road unions tried to settle the strike ["LIRR strikers, MTA talk but don't make deal yet," News, May 18]. Metro-North's workers have a contract with work rules that generate more productivity from train crews and a more efficient commuter railroad. There is no reason New York taxpayers and LIRR riders should expect anything less. The antiquated work rules primarily benefit train crews at the expense of the larger LIRR workforce. Modernizing these rules could give the MTA money to allocate to all Long Island Rail Road workers or to fund more service.

Steve Strauss, Forest Hills

The writer is a retired professional in the transit industry.

The Long Island Rail Road strike was not just another labor dispute; it was the most dangerous recent strike threat in our region because the usual pressure valves are broken.

Unlike New York City Transit workers, LIRR employees are covered by the federal Railway Labor Act, which legally allows a strike once mediation has run its course ["Nearing an LIRR strike, again," Editorial, May 10]. This structural reality gave the unions leverage that most MTA workers simply do not possess.

This dispute was also far harder to resolve than other recent regional conflicts. While NYC door attendants averted a walkout, nurses endured a long strike to win staffing safeguards, and NJ Transit engineers settled quickly, the LIRR unions dug in. They initially flatly rejected the MTA's attempt to settle the wage dispute through a 3% raise plus a temporary lump-sum payment.

A lump sum fails to protect against compounding inflation for workers whose contracts are already three years behind schedule. Conversely, a permanent percentage increase compounds through future MTA budgets and threatens negotiations with other unions.

The economic exit ramp is narrow. Either the MTA converts its cash offer into a permanent wage increase, or the unions trade away costly work-rule protections. Until then, commuters remain trapped in a structure where everyone has leverage, but no one has an easy way out.

Brian MacColl, Pelham, N.Y.

Normally I'm definitely pro-union. However, between the LIRR employee overtime abuses and their abuses of the disability laws, I just couldn't support their cause.

Many of their members have spent decades abusing and fraudulently gaming the system. I can't feel sorry for them when they claim they are unable to live on what is being offered by the MTA.

Next time, don't abuse the system and the taxpayers and I will have zero problem supporting them.

Cliff Gray, Smithtown

More than 250 LIRR workers get more than $100,000 a year on overtime alone ["Payroll records tell overtime story," News, Sept. 21, 2025]. That's unbelievable. Added to that many of their rail workers are making good money. This strike affects almost 300,000 commuters and most of them don't make that kind of money. This strike came down to one word and that is greed. I'm 77 years old and had to work till I was 75, and that was due to cancer and other health issues. I worked with a plumbing supply company in Mineola for 45 years, 10 years of that part-time, and I never made more than $40,000 a year. The workers at the LIRR are asking for too much and get no sympathy from me and all those who travel the railroad. Remember this: Many commuters suffered because of this strike.

Frederick Robert Bedell Jr., Bellerose

An expensive Island in many ways

The article "On LI, high costs tighten the financial squeeze" [LI Business, May 11] outlines how Long Island is expensive for housing, property taxes, electricity, groceries and more. You'd assume the population is declining, but it remains flat. Traffic is horrible, bars and restaurants busy, garden stores full of flowers and Amazon trucks a regular sight. Like Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." Today there's wealth from retirees with defined pensions and boomers who've saved for retirement supporting the economy. Also people with good-paying jobs in NYC and professional careers here on LI, including healthcare workers, wealth advisers, entertainment services and small businesses. But not everyone is able to benefit from this. They're struggling. Hopes to buy a house dwindling. When mortgage rates drop and the older population continues to age, the supply of houses will likely increase and prices stabilize and maybe even drop. Despite its challenges, LI has excellent opportunities and beauty. But I understand why it's best for some to consider other places better suited for them at this particular time of their lives as LI will likely always be a high cost of living location.

James Santangelo, Stony Brook