LIRR Faces Strike After Unions Miss MTA Deadline

The Long Island Rail Road, North America's busiest commuter rail system, faces a potential shutdown starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after five unions failed to reach a new contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the service serving New York City's eastern suburbs.

The unions, representing about half of the LIRR's 7,000 workers including locomotive engineers, machinists and signalmen, are prepared to strike if no agreement is reached by the deadline. This follows months of negotiations, including a temporary delay in September when the Trump administration intervened via an emergency board, which led to a 60-day cooling-off period now expiring. Talks continued Friday as the midnight deadline approached, with MTA chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson describing the dispute as centered solely on money.

The MTA previously offered a 9.5 percent wage increase over three years, matching deals with other system unions. The workers sought a 6.5 percent annual raise, totaling 16 percent over four years. After closed-door meetings Wednesday, the MTA proposed what it described as the equivalent of a 4.5 percent raise in the fourth year through lump-sum payments,...