Thousands of Long Island Rail Road workers walked off the job Saturday morning, marking the end to failed negotiations and the start of a strike that could derail the nation\u2019s busiest commuter rail system.<\/p>\n
Five unions representing half the LIRR\u2019s workforce \u2014 about 3,500 people in all \u2014 began the strike<\/a> at midnight, the first in 32 years. The walkout comes after three years of failed negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that controls commuter rail lines and the New York City subway system.<\/p>\n As of Saturday morning, the LIRR \u2014 which serves around 300,000 passengers a day \u2014 is shut down.<\/a> The MTA\u2019s website encourages riders to work from home, noting that the strike \u201cwill cause severe congestion and delays\u201d and \u201chave a devastating impact\u201d on riders, many of whom use the railroad to commute to work in Manhattan.<\/p>\n Unions and the MTA failed to come to an agreement on annual raises and healthcare premiums for workers. The unions requested a retroactive 9.5% pay increase to cover the past three years, on top of a 5% increase for 2026. MTA chief Janno Lieber told the New York Times that the agency was willing to increase pay<\/a> for LIRR workers, but that union leaders refused its offer, pushing instead for concessions Lieber says would \u201cimplode\u201d the agency\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n Union leaders say that LIRR workers have not received a raise since 2022 and are grossly underpaid. But these union members made $136,000 on average in 2025, making them some of the highest-paid rail workers in the country.<\/p>\n Victor J. Blue\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Trump administration reportedly attempted to broker an 11th-hour compromise<\/a>, to no avail. The Department of Labor has been without a leader for around a month following scandal-ridden<\/a> Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n The Labor Department has yet to comment on the strike. Union leaders, meanwhile, are trumpeting the strike with characteristic bravado.<\/p>\n \u201cThe LIRR owns this strike,\u201d Teamsters President Sean O\u2019Brien said in a statement. \u201cUnion workers have sacrificed so much for the railroad for years while consistently bargaining in good faith for a fair contract.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHundreds of thousands of commuters rely on our members\u2019 labor every day,\u201d O\u2019Brien added. \u201cThe LIRR is stranding passengers while denying wages, benefits, and respect to \u2026 hardworking union members.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis strike would not have happened if the MTA and LIRR offered our members the reasonable terms the government recommended multiple times. But management refused,\u201d Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Mark Wallace said Saturday. \u201cWe hope LIRR gets serious soon to avoid further unnecessary disruptions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. They know where to find us when they\u2019re ready: on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe L.I.R.R. is more stable now than it has been for generations,\u201d New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement. \u201cThe decision by some unions to strike over demands that would threaten that progress is reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n Hochul\u2019s b\u00eate noire, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, posted on X late Friday that he was \u201ccontinuing to closely monitor the ongoing contract negotiations involving the LIRR.\u201d<\/p>\n The MTA will begin operating free shuttle buses to make up for the strike on Monday, though the agency warns that the buses are not enough to make up for the railroad. The New York Yankees are set to face the New York Mets at Citi Field on Saturday, an event that would ordinarily generate heavy railroad traffic.<\/p>\n On Friday, the New York State Comptroller\u2019s Office said that the shutdown could cost the New York metro area $61 million a day<\/a> in lost economic activity. That number could increase if the strike stretches into Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2275969310-865x576.jpg\")
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