Despite marathon negotiation meetings Thursday and Friday, the MTA and labor leaders for the LIRR unions failed to agree on a contract before the strike deadline of 12:01 AM Saturday.
Details on the scope of the strike are still emerging, but 3,500 railroad workers across five unions could potentially walk off the job, crippling the nation’s busiest commuter railroad.
Late Friday afternoon, MTA officials said they would continue negotiating right up until the deadline while simultaneously making contingency plans in case the strike went forward.
The sticking point has been the amount and pace of wage increases for railroad workers from five unions.
Officials said any trains in operation when the strike went into effect would continue to its final stop, but to finish any travel before midnight.
As for Monday, “Work remotely if you can, and allow our strike shuttle bus operation for essential workers,” said Shanifah Rieara, the MTA’s Senior Advisor for Communications and Policy, late Friday afternoon.
Alternatives
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.
