L.I.R.R. Strike Avoided for Now as Unions Ask U.S. to Intervene

New York|L.I.R.R. Strike Avoided for Now as Unions Ask U.S. to Intervene

A strike on the Long Island Rail Road, the biggest commuter rail service in the United States, will be avoided for at least several months, after the unions threatening a work stoppage took the unusual step of seeking the White House’s intervention.

Unions representing thousands of workers for the railroad, which carries more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City, could have walked off the job as early as Thursday. A federal mediation agency that had been overseeing negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, last month permitted the workers to proceed with a strike.

But on Monday, representatives of the five unions — including engineers, machinists and signalmen — said they had officially asked President Trump to form a panel known as a presidential emergency board, which would postpone the strike and seek to reach a contract settlement.

“This action does not mean a strike won’t happen, but it does mean a strike won’t happen now,” said Gilman Lang, the general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the unions.

The soonest a strike could now occur is mid-January, but further federal intervention could push off the strike to May 2026, according union officials.

The unions, representing over 3,000 railroad workers, had threatened to strike unless they received pay raises that exceeded those negotiated by other M.T.A. workers.

Many other divisions of the M.T.A., including unions that represent other Long Island Rail Road employees, have already agreed to a 9.5 percent wage increase over the next three years.

The holdout unions said they are seeking an additional 6.5 percent increase in a fourth year, which they said would help keep up with inflation. The unions have not received a raise since 2022, and contract negotiations have been in mediation for more than a year, the unions said.

The strike would have been the first to take place on the Long Island Rail Road since 1994, when a two-day suspension sent riders scrambling for alternatives.

The unions’ decision to request federal intervention is rare.

According to a 1920s federal labor law that regulates railroads, the unions, the governor or the president could call for the intervention of an emergency board, which would review the dispute.

But that request is almost never made by the workers, according to Jim Louis, a vice president with the engineers’ union. The groups requested the emergency board partly because it did not appear that Gov. Kathy Hochul, who controls the M.T.A., was likely to seek the president’s aid.

“The five unions decided to be the grown-up in the room,” Mr. Louis said.

At a news conference last week, the governor blamed the White House for allowing a strike to proceed. In August, the National Mediation Board, a federal agency, released the unions from ongoing mediation, effectively enabling a strike as early as this week.

“The White House already intervened,” Ms. Hochul said last week, “and they screwed us in the process.”

The White House and the board that ended the mediation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.