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.
Union and MTA representatives announced the deal after negotiations resumed in the afternoon and continued into the night, ending the work stoppage that had halted service and caused widespread travel disruptions across Long Island and in New York City.
“We have good news tonight,” Kevin Sexton, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and spokesman for the Long Island Railroad Bargaining Coalition, said. “We’re pleased to announce that the parties have reached an agreement.”
Sexton said that details of the agreement would not be released immediately, citing the need for member review ahead of ratification votes. However, public radio station WYNC 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,” he 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 any premature disclosure of details 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 work stoppage led to widespread delays across Long Island, with shuttle buses operating on limited routes and commuters urged to work remotely where possible.
Sexton also said that tensions escalated late in the negotiations on Friday night, when the MTA introduced proposed health care contributions for newly hired employees, an issue he said had not previously been part of bargaining discussions.
Tina-Marie Neos, a 26-year Glen Head resident, said the shutdown was “a little inconvenient.” She works as director of accounting and finance for a home care company, commuting to New York City twice a week and working from home on the other three days.
Neos said she typically takes the train from Glen Head station to Grand Central Station in the morning and in the afternoon, a train on the Ronkonkoma line that turns into the Oyster Bay line. In a comment Neos left on a Facebook post, she shared that a contingency plan would have consisted of driving into Queens and taking a bus from there.
“I have the luxury of working from home,” she said. “But I’m sure there’s a lot of people that don’t, and I can’t even imagine.”
Neos also said that she was slated to have a day-long in-person Occupational Safety and Health Administration training on Monday. She was meeting with someone from Philadelphia who she said was unable to get to New York.
Heather O’Neil, who works as a guidance counselor, wrote in a Facebook comment that she typically takes the train from Glen Head and that her commute is usually 55 minutes. She added that she drove on Monday, making her commute an hour and a half in the morning and two hours at the end of the day.
“I had to take off (Tuesday) because my wife needs to be in the city,” O’Neil wrote, “and between pick up/drop off schedules, it made both of us driving into the city logistically impossible.”
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.”
Officials said that 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 that the contingency bus service that operated during the shutdown would continue Tuesday morning before being phased out as train service ramped up.
Neos said that she thought the strike was unexpected.
“The trains were timed so beautifully, everything was going well, and then I’m like, ‘Wait, we’re having a strike?’” she said. “It just came out of nowhere. I was not prepared for this.”
Neos added that she does not plan to travel to New York City for work Thursday or Friday but will begin commuting again on Tuesday.
“I’m happy and relieved (the strike is) over,” she said. “It was quicker than I thought. I thought it was going to drag on.”
Hochul said that 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.”
Officials said that additional details on full system restoration were expected as crews completed inspections, repositioned equipment and returned employees to scheduled assignments.
“The communities of District 11 rely heavily upon the LIRR to get to work,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton wrote in a statement to the Herald on Tuesday, “and this made the strike profoundly disruptive for thousands of families. I am thankful an agreement has been reached and that train service will soon by fully restored.”
It was the first Long Island Rail Road strike since June 17, 1994. That strike lasted two days before a contract settlement was reached.
Additional reporting by Roksana Amid
