Talks to get the largest US commuter rail system running again continue as morning commute looms

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW YORK (AP) — With the first weekday morning commute looming, negotiators were working into the night Sunday to try to end a strike that has shut down the Long Island Rail Road, North America’s largest commuter rail system.

Unions representing rail workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which runs the railroad, resumed talks earlier in the day with some prodding from the National Mediation Board and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

But it’s not clear a deal could be reached in time to prevent disrupting Monday morning’s commute because of the time needed to get the crews and trains in place.

The board, the federal labor agency that governs labor relations for railroads and airlines, summoned representatives for both sides to an afternoon meeting in an effort to jumpstart talks, which then began and continued past 10:30 p.m.

Earlier Sunday, Hochul, appeared with the MTA's chief executive and said they were ready to do whatever was necessary to help talks along as a strike continued for a second day.

“We all know that the railroad is the lifeblood of Long Island. Without it, life as we know it is simply not possible. The bottom line is, no one wins in a strike. Everyone is hurt,” she said. Hochul offered to provide refreshments.

The LIRR serves hundreds of thousands of commuters who live along a 118-mile-long (190-kilometer-long) land mass that includes Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and the Hamptons, a summertime playground for the rich and famous near its eastern tip. The railroad has long provided commuters relief from its rush-hour clogged highways.

Most of its riders live outside New York City in two counties populated by nearly three million people.

After the news conference, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union said in a statement that the union workers “are not asking for special treatment — they are simply fighting to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living in the New York region after years without a raise.”

The railroad closed down and workers went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job for the first time in three decades.

The unions and the MTA have been negotiating a new contract since 2023, with talks stalled over workers' salaries and healthcare premiums. President Donald Trump’s administration got involved in September after unions asked for a panel of experts to be appointed, but they couldn't reach a deal. The unions were legally allowed to strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

At her news conference, Hochul said workers would lose every dollar that they would gain with a new contract by remaining on strike for three days.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said during the news conference that the unions' proposals would “blow up the MTA’s budget” but he joined the governor's request for the unions to resume talks.

“They elected to walk out. We’re more than willing to meet them halfway on wages,” he said.

The impact of the walkout, the first for the LIRR since a two-day strike in 1994, fell on many sports fans who wanted to see the Yankees and Mets battle or the Knicks’ playoff run at Madison Square Garden, which is located directly above the railroad’s Penn Station hub in Manhattan.

Federal law makes it extremely difficult for rail workers to walk out and even allows Congress to block a strike, but lawmakers didn't intervene here like they did with the nation's freight railroads in 2022.

Would-be commuters were greeted all weekend by train schedule departure boards that listed ghost trains marked “No Passengers” rather than upcoming trains listed by destination.

Hochul said essential workers among the roughly 250,000 weekday LIRR riders can take buses into the city from six locations on Long Island starting at 4 a.m. Monday and during an evening rush-hour commute from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Hochul, a Democrat, has blamed the Trump administration for cutting mediation short in September and pushing the negotiations toward a strike. Trump, a Republican, said on his Truth Social platform that he had nothing to do with the strike.

“No, Kathy, it’s your fault, and now looking over the facts, you should not have allowed this to happen,” Trump said.

Hochul urged companies and agencies that employ workers from Long Island to let them work from home whenever possible.

“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,” she said.

The MTA has said the unions’ initial demands to raise salaries would result in large fare increases and be disproportionate to what other unionized workers are paid.

The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other train workers, have said more substantial raises were warranted to help workers keep up with inflation and rising living costs. ___

Associated Press writers Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.