Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday pleaded with the unions behind the Long Island Railroad strike to return to bargaining as the shutdown entered its second day, warning that both workers and hundreds of thousands of commuters are losing ground with each passing hour. The railroad stopped running just after midnight Friday after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job.
"This is my official invitation. We didn't want you to leave. You left. You're welcome to come back. I'll provide refreshments, whatever you like. Just c'mon back," Hochul said. She added, "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."
The Long Island Rail Road is North America's largest commuter rail system and a daily lifeline for New York City and its eastern suburbs. The walkout was the first for the railroad in three decades and the first since a two-day strike in 1994, underscoring how rare a shutdown of this scale is for the region. It comes after months of talks between the unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over salaries and healthcare premiums.
The unions were legally allowed to strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Kevin Sexton said no new negotiations had been scheduled and that the two sides were still far apart. "We're far apart at this point," he said, adding, "We are truly sorry that we are in this situation." The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union have said their members "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."
Janno Lieber said the agency had "gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay," a sign of how hard the dispute has hardened around compensation and healthcare costs. The standoff is already creating headaches for fans planning to see the Yankees and Mets and for people watching the Knicks' playoff run at Madison Square Garden, while Penn Station in Manhattan was devoid of its usual weekend bustle on Saturday afternoon. Amtrak trains were not affected, but the disruption on the LIRR is poised to spill into Monday's morning commute unless the sides move quickly.
Hochul's message on Sunday was blunt: no one is winning this fight, and the longer it lasts the more it will cost the people who rely on the railroad most. For now, the real question is whether the unions and the transit authority can get back to the table before the strike becomes a deeper regional shutdown.
