With less than a week remaining before a potential Long Island Rail Road strike set for midnight Saturday, negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a coalition of rail unions remain ongoing, with both sides offering sharply different assessments of progress.
At the center of the dispute are pay and working conditions. Union leaders are seeking a retroactive 9.5 pecent wage increase over the past three years and an additional 5 percent raise beginning this year.
The MTA, meanwhile, is offering raises but is also seeking changes to work rules and productivity standards in return, saying it must control costs and protect the system’s long-term financial stability.
The sides were scheduled to meet again on Monday.
The dispute involves more than 3,500 workers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division; the Transportation Communications Union/IAM; the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Two Presidential Emergency Boards were convened between September 2025 and last March to help resolve the dispute. Both boards sided with the unions, rejecting the MTA’s proposed work rule changes and recommending wage increases, helping set the stage for the current standoff.
At a press conference in New York City on May 8, MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said he believes progress has been made in negotiations but acknowledged a deal has not yet been reached.
“I do think progress has been made,” he said. “We had a very long meeting yesterday and I would say we are closer, although we’re not there yet.”
Lieber urged the unions to avoid a strike, warning of financial consequences for workers.
“At this point, we’re getting close enough that it would be, I think, crazy for the workforce who is looking for more money to throw it away by going on a strike,” he said. “Remember, if you go on a strike for a day, that’s one out of roughly 260 days of pay. Pretty quickly, that starts to wipe out the small increments that we’re still trying to negotiate out.”
Union leaders, however, said in a May 8 statement that negotiations made no progress and accused the MTA of failing to offer acceptable wage terms.
“What was presented did not move us closer to a settlement,” said Jeff Klein, general chairman of IBEW Local 589. “Every day, as a result of MTA’s phony surface bargaining, we move closer to the May 16 strike date.”
Shaun O’Connor, general chairman of IAM District 19, said talks have been slow-moving.
“We’re running out of time here,” he said. “The MTA is still showing a lack of urgency. We practically had to drag them back to the bargaining table this week and what they’ve offered can be best described as ‘too little, too late.’”
Kevin Sexton, vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said workers want a contract that reflects rising costs.
“Our members are very frustrated,” he said. “They have gone years without a raise, and they want the trains to keep moving. But they won’t agree to a concessionary contract when the cost of living on Long Island has dramatically increased.”
Lieber disputed those characterizations.
“I don’t think it’s accurate,” he said. “I don’t want to get into a debate. It’s their turn to come back and respond to the new proposals that have been put on the table.”
He also said the MTA has already put money on the table.
“It’s money in the pockets of the families that they represent,” Lieber said. “No one’s playing gimmicks, but we’ve got this money on the table. Don’t hurt your workforce. Let’s make a deal.”
The unions also held a rally May 9 at the Massapequa LIRR station as part of a “Day of Action to Protest MTA’s Inaction.”
In the event of a strike, the MTA said it would operate limited weekday shuttle bus service for essential workers and commuters unable to work remotely. Buses would run during peak travel hours 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.
