Thursday, October 1, 2026
The three-day Long Island Rail Road strike ended late Monday after five unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reached a tentative agreement following several days of negotiations, officials announced at an evening news conference.
The agreement ended a work stoppage that had halted LIRR service since early Saturday and caused widespread travel disruptions across Long Island and New York City. Service was expected to return in phases beginning Tuesday, offering relief to commuters in Oceanside, Island Park and across the South Shore who had spent days weighing remote work, carpools, subway connections and other backup plans.
“We have good news tonight,” Kevin Sexton, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and spokesman for the Long Island Rail Road Bargaining Coalition, said. “We’re pleased to announce that the parties have reached an agreement.”
Sexton said details of the agreement would not be released immediately because union members still needed to review the tentative deal before ratification votes. Public radio station WNYC reported that the four-year deal includes retroactive pay and expires in July 2027.
“Due to the nature of the negotiations, we cannot discuss the specifics,” Sexton said. “What I can say is we are looking forward to our members getting back to work and doing what they do best, which is serving the region.”
He added that releasing details too soon could complicate ratification.
“We don’t want to fail ratification,” Sexton said. “If they get part of this story through the media, it may impact their decision.”
The agreement is subject to a 30-day period in which union members will review and vote on the tentative deal before it becomes official.
The shutdown began after five railroad unions went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, following the expiration of a federally mandated cooling-off period. The unions represented signalmen, electricians, clerks, machinists and locomotive engineers, affecting thousands of workers and disrupting travel for nearly 300,000 daily riders.
At the Oceanside train station, typically one of the busiest stops along the South Shore during weekday rush hours, platforms were unusually quiet Monday morning as commuters discussed alternate travel plans and the challenges of getting to work without rail service.
Joe Glavin, of Oceanside, criticized the shutdown and its impact on riders who had already paid for train service.
“Every commuter that bought a monthly ticket should sue them,” he said.
Others said the strike underscored how difficult it can be to depend on the railroad when service is disrupted. Jill Rezak, of Oceanside, said she had lived through previous transportation emergencies, including earlier strikes and major regional disruptions.
“I’ve worked through an LIRR strike and a subway strike, a blackout where I couldn’t get home and 9/11,” Rezak said. “And now that I work from home, I couldn’t be happier.”
For many commuters, however, working from home was not an option. Randi Heather Froehlich, of Oceanside, said before the agreement was announced that she would need to find another way to Brooklyn because her job required her to be there in person.
“Work is in Brooklyn — I’m a teacher, so no remote work,” Froehlich said, noting that she was relying on the subways or buses.
Allison Gedacht, also of Oceanside, said she faced a similar problem.
“I work in court in Brooklyn, and we don’t work remote,” Gedacht said. She carpooled to work.
Barry Rauch, who drove from Oceanside to the Far Rockaway subway station Monday morning, said the first leg of his commute took about 30 minutes before he even boarded the subway into Manhattan.
At the Island Park train station, commuters also weighed backup plans while waiting to see whether negotiations would produce a deal. Gary Urivetzky, of Island Park, said he planned to work remotely while service remained suspended.
“I will be working via remote from home,” Urivetzky said.
Christine Sweeney, another Island Park resident, said she was grateful her employer allowed remote work. Without that option, she said, her commute would have required a more complicated route.
“If not, I’d be planning my route to the A train in Far Rockaway or maybe the ferry,” Sweeney said.
Local transportation providers also stepped in to help stranded commuters. Russell Chisholm, transportation manager for Long Beach Transportation, said Monday that he planned to drive through Oceanside and Island Park to check on commuters in need of assistance. He said his service was also exploring rideshare options for residents struggling to get to work.
The strike came after days of tense negotiations between the MTA and the Long Island Rail Road Bargaining Coalition. Union members began picketing Saturday morning at several locations, including Penn Station and stations in Babylon and Ronkonkoma, after talks broke down.
Sexton said Saturday that union leaders believed management forced the strike.
“This was a management-provoked strike, as far as we are concerned,” Sexton said.
The dispute centered largely on wages during the final year of the proposed contract. Union leaders had sought a 5 percent raise in the fourth year, while the MTA increased its offer from 3 percent and proposed including part of the compensation as a lump-sum payment rather than permanent salary increases.
Sexton also said tensions escalated late Friday when the MTA introduced proposed health care contributions for newly hired employees, an issue he said had not previously been part of bargaining discussions.
“Late in the 11th hour, the railroad decided to throw in health care contributions for new employees, which was never discussed in bargaining,” Sexton said.
Michael Sullivan, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, also criticized the MTA’s handling of negotiations.
“This strike did not have to happen,” Sullivan said. “The men and women represented by this coalition followed every step of the legal process and prevailed before two independent expert boards.”
The two sides returned to negotiations Sunday afternoon after the National Mediation Board, the federal agency overseeing the labor dispute, brought union leaders and MTA officials back together in an effort to restart talks. Negotiations concluded around 1:45 a.m. Monday and resumed later that morning before continuing into the evening.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the agreement was reached after continued bargaining focused on balancing worker pay with affordability for commuters and taxpayers.
“I’m truly pleased to share that the five Long Island Rail Road unions and the MTA were able to come together and reach a fair deal this evening,” Hochul said. “The contract achieved two principles: protecting affordability for Long Islanders and commuters while giving fair wages to the employees.”
Hochul said roughly 3,500 LIRR employees would receive raises under the agreement, while fare and tax increases would not be part of the deal.
“I also did not accept a deal for compromise affordability for Long Islanders,” she said. “At a time when everything is going up, I’m not going to allow taxes or fares to go up. Period. Full stop. Got it done.”
Before the agreement was announced, Hochul had urged commuters who were able to work remotely to stay home during the strike and called on employers to make accommodations. The MTA also activated a contingency plan that included limited weekday shuttle bus service for essential workers and commuters unable to work remotely.
The buses began operating around 4 a.m. Monday between six Long Island locations — Bay Shore, Hempstead Lake State Park near the Lakeview train station, Hicksville, Huntington, Mineola and Ronkonkoma — and subway connection points in Queens, including the Howard Beach-JFK Airport A train station and the Jamaica-179 Street F train station.
MTA President Rob Free said the shuttle buses were intended primarily for essential workers traveling into New York City.
“We want to make sure that we get the necessary people into the city so they can perform their functions,” Free said.
Nassau County riders were urged to consider NICE Bus service as an alternative connection to subway stations in Queens, while commuters were encouraged to use the 7-subway line from Citi Field parking areas. Citi Field charged $6 per day for parking while the Mets were on the road.
Officials said the LIRR would begin restoring service in phases starting Tuesday at noon, with limited hourly service on four main branches before expanding systemwide service later in the day. The MTA said the contingency bus service that operated during the shutdown would continue Tuesday morning before being phased out as train service ramped up.
Additional details on full system restoration were expected as crews completed inspections, repositioned equipment and returned employees to scheduled assignments.
The strike was the first LIRR walkout since June 17, 1994, when a strike lasted two days before a contract settlement was reached. Another strike was narrowly avoided in 2014.
