By Hank Russell
With a looming strike one day away, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuters may have to seek alternative forms of transportation if they are unable to work from home.
Negotiations between five of the LIRR unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) seemed to hit an impasse yesterday as the unions pushed for a higher raise. According to Channel 2 News, both sides agreed to a 9.5% raise over three years, but the MTA’s chief negotiator, Gary Dellaverson, offered a 4.5% lump-sum payment, which did not sit well with union leadership who called the MTA’s offer “a gimmick.”
“Negotiations in the coming hours must focus on real wages. It’s time for MTA to get serious – otherwise it’s going to be game over,” said Nicholas Peluso, the national vice president of the Transportation Communications Union/IAM.
“Dellaverson is in the wrong business,” said Jeffrey Klein, who serves as the General Chairman of IBEW Local 589. “He should open a store called ‘Games and Gimmicks.’ It’s his specialty.” Klein also said that Dellaverson peddled “a false narrative” about the lump-sum payment.
Channel 2 News quoted Dellaverson as saying, “There’s not a single thing that the MTA has put on the table that anybody could refer to as a gimmick or a game,” MTA Counsel Gary Dellaverson said. “We’ve utilized various methods of delivering more cash, more money, right, to the rank and file, to the workforce, that they can use and spend however it is that they wish to spend it.”
As both sides continue to fight it out, the MTA is offering a shuttle bus service for commuters. Riders from Bay Shore, Hicksville, Hempstead Lake State Park near Lakeview and Mineola will be transported to JFK International Airport. Those coming from Huntington and Ronkonkoma will be brought over to the subway station at Hillside Avenue and 179th Street. More details can be found here.
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena announced that the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus service will be available, connecting at the No. 7 subway station on Main Street in Flushing, the E/F station at 179th Street and the Parsons Archer Station. As resources allow, NICE will add additional peak-hour and peak-direction express trips serving Freeport, Great Neck, Mineola and Hicksville Stations.
More information can be found at www.nicebus.com.
The LIRR has also recommended passenger dropoff points at the A line subway station on Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway; the E and F lines on Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens; the A line at Lefferts Boulevard in Ozone Park; the B and Q lines is Sheepshead Bay; and the J line at Woodhaven Boulevard. Meanwhile, the New York Mets have offered weekday parking at its Citi Field parking lot for $6 a day.
“We understand the LIRR is a critical transportation lifeline for many of our residents who rely on it for work, travel, medical appointments, and family obligations,” DeSena stated. “We are closely monitoring the situation and remain in contact with regional transportation officials.”
As an alternative to traveling to work, Governor Kathy Hochul recently said that the MTA has “encouraged employers and employees on Long Island to plan for work from home early next week if a strike occurs.”
If a strike does occur, 35,000 employees will walk off the job, impacting 350,000 riders. The last time there was a strike was in 1994.