About 3,500 Long Island Railroad workers could walk off the job at 12:01 AM Saturday if union leaders and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can’t hash out a deal on wage increases.
The sticking point in contract negotiations has been the amount and pace of wage increases for railroad workers from five unions.
With just hours to go before the deadline, officials held a short news conference late Friday afternoon. They said while negotiations continue, the MTA is simultaneously refining its contingency plans in the event of a strike.
“We are planning for an orderly shutdown, and what that means is that we want to make sure that any trains that are operating, even if a work stoppage were to occur, the trains will make it to their final destination,” said Rob Free, president of the LIRR.
The MTA website has been updated to include the last train times for Friday night on each branch.
Almost 300,000 people ride the LIRR each weekday, making it the busiest in the nation.
The last time the LIRR saw a strike was 1994.
Alternatives
If a strike occurs and continues into Monday, LIRR commuters have few options. The MTA has been updating its website with the latest on contingency plans. So far, there are three basic alternatives for commuters who normally rely on the LIRR.
Option 1: Work from home if possible.
Option 2: Road congestion will likely be worse than usual, but commuters can drive or carpool, and NICE buses can take riders from Nassau County to the 7 or F trains in Queens.
Option 3: Take a shuttle bus from one of six Long Island locations to a subway station in Queens.
Buses will take riders from the LIRR stations in Bay Shore Peak and reverse peak direction service , Lakeview/Hempstead Lake State Park (Peak direction service only) , Hicksville (Peak direction service only) and Mineola (Peak direction service only) to Howard Beach/JFK Airport where they can continue west on the A train.
Buses from the Huntington (Peak and reverse peak direction service) and Ronkonkoma (Peak and reverse peak direction service) LIRR stations will take riders to Jamaica where they can transfer to the F train.
Shuttle bus service would start Monday, operating from 4:30 AM to 9:00 AM and from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
