NEW YORK — A strike of unionized Long Island Railroad workers has been averted, for now. Workers voted overwhelmingly Monday authorizing leaders to call a strike if a new contract agreement isn’t reached. The strike could have been called as early as Thursday, Sept. 18, under federal rules. Officials representing locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other train workers say they’ve also asked President Donald Trump to intercede by forming an emergency board, which delays the strike potential for at least for a few more months.
Union leaders said the earliest a strike could happen is January 2026 while the Presidential Emergency Board, once formed, reviews the contract dispute and presents its recommendations.
The work action would have impacted more than 250,000 commuters who use the LIRR each day to ride between New York City and its eastern suburbs. A strike would also have dramatically impacted the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 26. The three-day men’s golf tournament between players from the U.S. and Europe is being played on the Black Course of Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. The event is expected to bring 225,000 spectators to the area.
“This action does not mean a strike won’t happen, but it does mean it won’t happen now,” says Gil Lang, general chairman for the union representing LIRR locomotive engineers, at a news conference at the union’s office in Manhattan on Monday.
“We will continue to be the adults in the room,” he stated. “A strike is the last thing we want, and we’ll do everything we can to avoid that.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the LIRR and other area transit systems, dismissed the union’s statements as a “cynical delay” that “serves no one.”
“If these unions wanted to put riders first, they would either settle or agree to binding arbitration,” spokesman John J. McCarthy said in a statement. “And if they don’t want to strike, they should say so — and finally show up to the negotiating table.”
The five labor unions representing about half the system’s workforce are seeking a 16% raise over four years. The MTA has proposed a 9.5% wage increase over three years.
The agency and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had resisted calling for an emergency board even though they have the power to do so.
Instead, the MTA announced plans to move commuters via free shuttle buses taking them from selected LIRR train stations to subway stops in the New York City borough of Queens in the case of a strike.
