LIRR strike off for now as unions request Presidential Emergency Board

A potential strike by several LIRR unions that would have suspended all rail service systemwide as soon as this Thursday is off for at least the rest of this year as leaders of the unions representing these workers requested that the White House appoint a Presidential Emergency Board to help mediate the dispute.  A Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) is a relief valve of sorts that interrupts either side from seeking self-help under the Railway Labor Act, a federal law that regulates labor disputes between rail carriers and their workers.  A PEB sets back the earliest start date for a strike or lockout by at least 90 days.

The current dispute involves five LIRR unions representing six collective bargaining units that make up a little over half of the railroad's workforce.  The unions include:

• Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, which represents locomotive engineers
• Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen (Local 56), which represents signal and communications workers
• Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen (Local 241), which represents technical engineers, architects, draftsmen, allied workers, load dispatchers, staff managers, assistant staff managers, and fire marshals
• International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents  machinists
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents electricians
• Transportation Communications Union, which represents clerical employees, ticket clerks, and other miscellaneous employees

(Photo: The LIRR Today)

The characters are a little different from the last serious LIRR strike threat in 2014, when a larger coalition representing most of the railroad's workforce was threatening to walk off the job before then-Governor Andrew Cuomo intervened to broker a deal that maintained mostly the status quo.  This time, most unions, including the ringleader from the 2014 strike and the largest LIRR union (the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, SMART) have already accepted a deal from the MTA that offers 9.5% raises over three years and aligns with the pattern set by other city, state, and MTA unions this cycle.  These unions are instead holding out, hoping that they can bargain separately for higher raises.

The MTA and the holdout unions were engaged in a mediation process with the National Mediation Board, which is one of the first steps in the labor contract negotiation process.  Only the mediators can declare an impasse and release the parties from mediation, which means this process can often take a long time.  Unless it doesn't...in August, the National Mediation Board released the parties from mediation in an unexpectedly abrupt move.

MTA officials have criticized the holdout unions for not coming to the negotiating table to work out their differences, and instead fast-tracking moves for a strike (including by holding strike authorization votes before the unions were even released from mediation.  As recently as this past weekend, union officials said that they would not request a PEB, seemingly determined to push this dispute to the brink of self-help.

In a statement, MTA Chief, Policy and External Relations John McCarthy said “After months of radio silence, these outlier unions have finally admitted that they weren't serious about negotiating. They never had a plan to resolve this at the bargaining table.  If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration. And if they don’t want to strike, they should say so - and finally show up to the negotiating table. This cynical delay serves no one." 

Either party, the National Mediation Board, or the governor of an impacted state can request the White House empanel a PEB.  The wording in the law suggests that the parties can request and then the President may empanel a PEB, so just a request from the unions may not officially hit the pause button.  Though it would be extraordinary if the White House declines to empanel a PEB, putting a self-help immediately back on the table...

Generally a PEB will meet with the two sides to formulate what they consider fair proposals or recommendations to resolve the dispute, and publish those in a report to the President within 30 days.  The parties then enter into a cooling off period for 60 days (30 days for railroads not considered commuter railroads) where they can continue to negotiate, but cannot engage in self-help.  If no agreement is reached 30 days after the report and recommendations of the first emergency board, then the National Mediation Board holds a public hearing.

After the full 60 days, if no agreement has been reached, then either side may seek help, unless one of the parties or the governor of an impacted state requests a second PEB.  In the event there is a second PEB, then both sides submit what they consider their "best and final offer" and the PEB selects what they think is the most reasonable of the offers.  The publication of that report then sets off a final 60-day cooling period, after which either side may seek self-help.

If the process above plays out in its entirety, a strike may be put off until at least next spring.  But there are a few ways the process may be short-circuited along the way, so we will have to stay tuned.

Leaders of the holdout unions had said they were seeking raises beyond the 9.5% over three years the MTA was offering, but prior to Monday, had not made public what they were seeking.  In a statement on Monday, the union leaders said they would accept MTA's offer of 9.5% over three years, but were seeking a 6.5% wage increase in the fourth year.

Union leaders say that wages and the MTA's proposal does not keep up with inflation and increases in cost of living in this region.  Unlike workers who are governed under the State's Taylor Law and Triborough Amendment (which requires employers to continue increasing wages at the same rate as under the previous contract), rail contracts remain in force until a new agreement is reached--but wages stay fixed while the negotiations carry on, which puts pressure on the wallets of workers as prices go up but their wages remain fixed.  When a new contract is ratified, workers typically get back wages depending on the terms of the agreement.

The MTA counters that any wage increases beyond the pattern established with the other unions need to be offset by givebacks in the form of work rule concessions or other changes to benefits.  Archaic and outdated work rules in many of these contracts cost the LIRR millions in penalty payments each year, including those that give engineer's a second day's pay for operating both an electric and diesel locomotive in the same shift, or working multiple classes of service in the same shift.  These work rules are remnants from an era of railroading that has long passed, and it is time the MTA hold firm and negotiate them out once and for all.

I have no issue with LIRR workers making a decent living, or even seeing wage increases beyond the established pattern or the rate of inflation.  But wage increases must be paired with productivity improvements.  LIRR's workforce is among the least productive in the US passenger rail industry (if not beyond), with overstaffing and excessive downtime rampant across different crafts and departments.  MTA and LIRR must use this opportunity to bargain for productivity improvements that will allow them to drive down costs and improve service in the long run.

Blank departure boards at NJT's Hoboken Terminal during a 4-day
strike by locomotive engineers in May 2025 (Photo: The LIRR Today)

In this post-pandemic era where ridership remains only about 80% of what it was pre-pandemic, and work from home and other flexible arrangements are much more commonplace for workers, this is the perfect opportunity for the MTA to hold firm with the unions and demand productivity improvements as part of a new contract.  A four-day strike by NJTransit's locomotive engineers this past spring shows that management can take a stand with unions without the world coming to an end.  Some short term pain for the long term gain of being able to reduce the LIRR's stratospheric cost base and make it easier and more affordable to improve service in the future would be well worth it.  Governor Hochul and the MTA should see through the required processes, but remain prepared to hold firm and stand up for what's best for LIRR riders.