NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declined to say Wednesday whether she would ask President Donald Trump to appoint a Presidential Emergency Board to head off a potential strike by five Long Island Rail Road unions, and claimed that the Trump administration was responsible for the possibility of a walkout as soon as Sept. 18.
At a Wednesday (Sept. 10, 2025) press conference in New York City to promote improved subway crime statistics, Hochul — queried if she would ask Trump to intervene — responded, “The White House already intervened, and they screwed us in the process.
“They never should have given license to stop the negotiations,” she said, apparently suggesting that the National Mediation Board decision releasing the unions and LIRR from mediation was an administration decision. “They never should have shut it down and said that’s enough, and given authority to strike. … I want people back at the table. I want the conversations to occur in a meaningful, productive way, because we have over 300,000 people who rely on this system of transportation. But if the worst scenario occurs, I want this entire community to know that this was initiated by the Trump White House.”
The Long Island newspaper Newsday reports the Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment.
However, the heads of the five unions involved wrote Hochul on Tuesday, Sept. 9, to say the claim the administration involved was “simply false. … The National Mediation Board carefully considered our dispute and rightfully determined that the parties were at an impasse.”
In that letter, the unions also contended that the LIRR and Metropolitan Transportation Authority have “indicated that your office does not intend to make such a request [for a Presidential Emergency Board] because you prefer a strike now versus risk the potential of a strike closer to your reelection. The letter also calls for Hochul to “at minimum … direct LIRR/MTA to meet with us as soon as possible to determine a definite and orderly shutdown of operations.”
The letter was signed by officials of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Transportation Communications Union. Those organizations represent almost half of the LIRR’s unionized work force.
A BLET vote on a potential strike concludes Monday, Sept. 15. The IBEW has also said it held a strike vote but has not announced results.
The NMB decision releasing the two sides from further mediation last month, starting the clock on a 30-day cooling-off period [see “Long Island Rail Road, five unions release …,” Trains.com, Aug. 19, 2025]. When that period ends Sept. 18, the unions could strike (or the LIRR could lock the workers out) unless President Trump appoints a Presidential Emergency Board to study the situation and make a non-binding recommendation for a settlement. That could push back a strike date by months.
