Long Island Rail Road Strike Temporarily Averted; However, Unions Say It "Could Still Happen"
Long Island commuters who have been holding their breaths in fear and breathe easy...at least, for the time being, as it was announced Monday that a potential Long Island Rail Road strike that could have taken place later this week has been temporarily averted.
The strike, which was announced to take place starting Thursday and would have involved approximately half of all LIRR workers walking off the job, was put off by the unions, pending a request they made to the Trump Administration to step in and create an emergency board that would mediate between the unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
It is the union leaders collective hope that, if such a emergency board were to be created, it would be able to hear proposals from both sides and make recommendations that would lead to new contracts for the workers who are threatening to strike.
“This action does not mean a strike won’t happen,” said Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen member Gil Lang. “But it does mean it won’t happen now.”
The strike delay was announced during a press conference held on Monday by a group of five unions representing the LIRR workers, during which they disparaged both the MTA and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whom they accused of running a "scare campaign" to turn the public against their cause.