Long Island Rail Road workers strike, halting commuter service

newsMay 16, 2026321,791

Five unions representing 3,500 Long Island Rail Road employees walked out after contract talks failed, halting LIRR service between Long Island and New York City. The strike paralyzed North America’s busiest commuter rail system, disrupting transit for roughly 330,000 daily riders and canceling trains across key peak commute corridors. The stoppage followed failed negotiations over wages and working conditions and matters because so many workers and businesses rely on the LIRR to reach jobs and services in New York City.

More Perfect Union

@moreperfectunion.bsky.social

BREAKING: 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers are on strike, shutting down America’s busiest commuter train service.

74524d ago

Comrade Jingle Pants ☭🔻Organize Against Oligarchs!11

I wish the shipping rail would do this, too, even though Biden made their strikes illegal. What are they going to do? Arrest them?

teachagainstracism.bsky.social6

Shut it down! Shut it tight! The bosses can’t win when the #workers #unite! multiracialunity.org/2026/03/22/w... All #solidarity to the #striking workers!

Malevolent Appendix4

No war but class war.

taormint.bsky.social2

The whole country needs to go on strike until this dystopian administration is forced to resign.

Phil Lewis

@phillewis.bsky.social

The Long Island Rail Road, North America’s busiest commuter rail system, shut down after unionized workers in the New York City area went on strike

38624d ago

Sam

@samd.bsky.social

I am usually pro-labor but the LIRR strike is absurd they are already the best paid agency in the country and have tons of extremely generous benefits like 2x wages for working on 2 trains. and now they’re refusing a 4% raise? LIRR union is a perfect example of why US transit is so inefficient

Cash compensation for members of the five holdout unions averaged over $136,000 in 2025, according to M.T.A. figures, making them among the highest-paid rail workers in the nation.
Earlier in negotiations, the M.T.A. had also sought to eliminate a number of work rules that often require higher pay for certain tasks. The unions declined to do so.
For instance, if an engineer drives a diesel train at the start of a shift but is asked to switch to an electric train in the same day, the M.T.A. must compensate that worker with two days' pay. If, on the same day, the engineer is asked to switch from driving passengers to driving a train back to a yard for maintenance or storage, that worker is entitled to a third day of pay.
These penalty payments added almost 15 percent to the average engineer's compensation in 2024, the M.T.A. said.

32024d ago

Sam219

Democrats really need to stop this “labor is always 100% correct no matter the actual details of the issue” nonsense. the other side of the negotiating table with the LIRR unions isn’t billionaire shareholders. it’s public servants protecting taxpayers from getting ripped off

Nick Wilson28

I, too, am ambivalent about this one and would like to hear union folks explain it. Also: MTA negotiates with ~80(?) unions and there's a "most favored nation" dynamic---you give a concession to one, and the others want it too. 1/

prunesqualler.bsky.social20

Sounds like a police union.

robertbug.bsky.social18

This is the same union that protected its members that committed overtime fraud

Nuke13

The second dumbest group of self proclaimed leftists are going to use Zohran not supporting this as an excuse to say that he's exactly the same as a Republican forever, aren't they? (The dumbest group would be red triangle people who call him a Zionist)

andrew4

Self driving trains looking like a better and better investment for MTA each day the strike goes on 🤷‍♂️.

RadiantHostility (he/him)2

So the company is recklessly understaffing and juggling people between trains instead of having enough engineers, and the union is penalyzing them for this dangerous behavior, and... What? What is this? The correct amount of wealth going to workers is All Of It.

Jason Frantz2

Any notion of how frequently the 2x pay situation actually occurs?

Comrade Dogboy KC AO2

Workers should not have to strike to be paid a living wage. No one complains when execs and CEOs get bonuses.

Ice Machine2

Anyone who claims to be pro labor is free to just keep their mouth shut for once in their life. This strike could be won or lost without you posting, believe it or not!

Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis

@kendrawrites.com

The LIRR is on strike. It's the largest commuter rail system in North America and it's shut down.

3623d ago

Claire Valdez

@claireforny.bsky.social

Solidarity with the 3,500 LIRR engineers, signalmen, machinists and other railroad workers who walked out on their first strike in 32 years last night. The MTA had every opportunity to bargain in good faith. Now management’s failures are being imposed on riders.

3324d ago

Jay Edidin

@edidin.bsky.social

ME: [explains LIRR strike to kiddo] KIDDO (very concerned): Will the trains be all right? @teaberryblue.net

4024d ago

Stefanos Chen

@stefanoschen.bsky.social

Looks like the LIRR deal will come down to the wire. Management and unions still trading offers, with a midnight deadline looming. Here's the latest on what a strike could mean: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/n...

1924d ago

Nick Wilson

@nickhwilson.bsky.social

I'm all for union solidarity, but I hope it goes both ways: will LIRR engineers support UUP if we strike? (Doubt. Ful.) 3/3

2424d ago

Mike Tremblay

@tremblay.bsky.social

I mean yes but not because of the LIRR strike

2324d ago

Effective Transit Alliance

@etany.org

A fire in the East River tunnels has shut down almost all LIRR service into and out of Penn Station. While disasters like this are thankfully rare, they highlight the value of an emergency operations plan—especially for a railroad with as many terminals as the LIRR. www.etany.org/statements/m...

Penn Station Fires and the
Value of an Emergency Plan
May 15, 2026
On Thursday, May 14, a midday fire knocked out two of the four East River tunnels that the
Long Island Rail Road uses to access Penn Station. Because one additional tunnel was closed
for a long-term overhaul, this left only a single track for all trains between Penn Station and
Long Island during May 15th’s AM rush. This has caused massive disruptions: at first, the LIRR
suspended most service west of Jamaica. Since then, the railroad has begun to divert some
trains to Grand Central Madison (GCM) and Atlantic Terminal as it very slowly resumes
operations to Penn Station.
Before going further, it is important to note that this is not an ordinary week for the LIRR. The
railroad is preparing for a possible strike beginning at Midnight, which should it not be called off
at the last minute would prevent any trains leaving terminals as of that time. This further
complicates the situation by requiring the agency to modify schedules and make other
preparations to ensure that trains are in locations that permit for a rapid resumption of service if
the potential strike ends. For more info on the strike, the LIRR has set up an information page
with final trains, and alternative service. ETA encourages straphangers to keep an eye on LIRR
social media and alerts for the latest strike information.
Fires and other severe disruptions are thankfully rare, and ETA is happy that no one has been
injured. At the same time, thanks to its redundancy, the LIRR can and should develop
emergency service plans that can be implemented on short notice for major disruptions like
this1.
This is not unprecedented. Trains on NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton, and
Gladstone Lines that normally run into Penn Station via MidtownDIRECT are being diverted to
Hoboken Terminal under an emergency operations plan. From there, riders can take PATH... read the rest on etany.org

1425d ago

Rachel Holliday Smith

@rachelholliday.bsky.social

well, the LIRR strike deadline has passed. we’re in it now!

1524d ago

jenn schiffer 🕷️🕯️

@jennschiffer.com

LIRR workers (the nypd cops of commuter rail) is on strike which means long islanders can do one of their favorite pastimes without being disruptive: getting their cars stuck on train tracks

1824d ago

Rev. Poppy Haze 𓅋

@poppyhaze.bsky.social

got this this morning at Grand Central Madison, flyer explaining possible strike imminent and a little card showing the shuttle bus service I wish the MTA would bring some shuttle buses for us on the Port Washington line