Hochul presses Mta talks as LIRR strike deadline nears
mta negotiators and the heads of five Long Island Rail Road unions are due to meet Thursday morning at 2 Broadway in Lower Manhattan as a strike deadline approaches. A work stoppage could begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday if the sides do not reach a contract deal.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has been involved in the negotiations between MTA managers and LIRR labor leaders. The railroad carries more than 270,000 weekday riders, and a strike would disrupt a commuter line that many businesses rely on for access.
2 Broadway talks
The meeting at the MTA’s headquarters is the latest effort to avoid a stoppage that could interrupt service with less than two days left before the deadline. Hochul is set to be the keynote speaker at the New York State Affordable Housing Conference at the Mariott Marquis Times Square on Thursday morning, while the labor talks are expected at the agency’s offices downtown.
The last time the LIRR came this close to a work stoppage was in the summer of 2014. Andrew M. Cuomo showed up to negotiations three days before the strike deadline that year and closed a deal with unions.
Union pay dispute
The dispute centers on the unions seeking 14.5% raises over four years, while MTA managers say the employees threatening to strike are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the nation. LIRR labor leaders argue that their pay and negotiating position are warranted because of the high cost of living in New York and recent raises at other railroads across the country.
That gap leaves commuters facing a weekend deadline and employers watching whether the railroad stays open. The next move belongs to the negotiators at 2 Broadway, where any deal would have to come before Saturday’s cutoff to prevent a shutdown.
