New Yorkers’ commute slammed by LIRR strike
New York City’s Monday morning commute fell into chaos after Long Island rail Road (LIRR) workers continued a strike for higher wages. Workers began picketing Saturday when negotiations between their unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reached an impasse. The strike shut down all 11 LIRR branches, disrupting rail service for roughly 300,000 daily riders-the first LIRR strike in more then three decades.
Many commuters drove or used buses rather. The MTA launched an alternate shuttle bus service to subway connections in queens from Ronkonkoma, Bay Shore, and Hempstead, but the shuttles reportedly could move only a fraction of regular riders. Gov. Kathy Hochul urged peopel who could work from home to do so, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned residents to expect longer trips and heavier traffic while directing the NYPD to assist traffic flow.
The strike is organized by the teamsters and the Brotherhood of Locomotive engineers and Trainmen. The unions say about 3,500 striking workers haven’t received wage increases in three years, and they accuse the railroad of offering inadequate wages and benefits. Hochul, meanwhile, said the MTA can’t agree to a deal that would raise fares by as much as 8% and increase taxes. Negotiations resumed Sunday and were ongoing at the time of the report.
New York City’s Monday morning commute turned to chaos this week as Long Island Rail Road workers continued their strike for higher wages.
LIRR workers began picketing on Saturday after negotiations between their unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reached an impasse. The strike caused all 11 branches of the LIRR to shut down, obfuscating the commutes of the railroad’s approximate 300,000 daily passengers on Monday morning. This is the first LIRR strike in over three decades.
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The commuters who take the LIRR largely either resorted to driving or busing into the city on Monday, making rush hour even more of a hassle on the roads. The MTA began an alternate bus service for the strike period, starting shuttle buses in Ronkonkoma, Bay Shore, and Hempstead, to take commuters to subway stations in Queens. Anyone east of those three bus stations had to find their own way to the stops.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) encouraged New York City commuters to work from home during the strike.
“It’s impossible to fully replace LIRR service. So effective Monday, I’m asking that regular commuters who can work from home should. Please do so. And employers should make every accommodation necessary to allow for remote work,” Hochul said during a weekend press conference.
The MTA bus shuttles could only transport 13,000 of the 300,000 typical LIRR commuters on Monday, according to the New York Daily News. Janno Lieber, chairman of the MTA, told ABC 7 that most commuters seemed to heed Hochul’s work-from-home directive.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told New Yorkers to plan for longer travel times and heavier traffic, and also notified the city that New York City Police Department officers would be deployed along major roadways to help facilitate traffic.
Mamdani, a socialist mayor who has picketed with Starbucks workers and nurses, has not joined the LIRR workers on their picket line. Mamdani’s public statements have been much more focused on the traffic chaos than the workers’ arguments.
“As negotiations between the MTA and workers continue and LIRR service remains suspended, the City is preparing for travel disruptions going into the workweek and New Yorkers should too,” Mamdani said on Sunday.
Teamsters and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are the two unions organizing the strike. They have argued that the 3,500 workers on strike have not received wage raises in three years as they bargain for new contracts.
“Union workers have sacrificed so much for the railroad for years while consistently bargaining in good faith for a fair contract,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “Hundreds of thousands of commuters rely on our members’ labor every day. The LIRR is stranding passengers while denying wages, benefits, and respect to BLET Teamsters and other hardworking union members.”
NEW YORK CITY COMMUTER RAIL UNIONS START STRIKE AFFECTING 300,000 RIDERS DAILY
Hochul has publicly pushed back on the unions’ wage raise demands, saying “the MTA cannot agree to a contract that would raise fares as much as eight percent and risk hiking taxes for Long Islanders.”
Negotiations resumed on Sunday and were currently underway as of press time.
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