During the part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s April 29 board meeting reserved for public remarks, Gil Lang, General Chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) at the Long Island Rail Road, speaking on behalf of a coalition of five LIRR rail unions, called out the MTA for their “lack of urgency” with a strike date of May 16 set and no negotiations for the past 40 days. The coalition of five unions represents a majority of LIRR’s unionized workforce, 3,500 railroad workers.
Immediately following Lang’s remarks, the MTA agreed to hold new talks during the week of May 4 to include the federal National Mediation Board.
“The MTA’s responsibility should be to serve the public and to keep the Long Island Rail Road moving. Instead, since the last meeting that we requested, 40 days have passed. No response. No new bargaining session. No counterproposal. No sense of urgency,” said Lang. “That delay is on the MTA. Rather than working toward a settlement, the MTA is preparing the public for failure — talking about limited bus service and ignoring the gridlock that will paralyze Long Island if the trains stop running. That is not a plan. That is not leadership.”
Click here to watch a video of Lang delivering his comments to the MTA Board.
Release in March of recommendations by a second Presidential Emergency Board that called for adopting the union’s bargaining proposal triggered a 60-day cooling off period under the Railway Labor Act. If there is no agreement at the end of that period — 12:01 a.m. on May 16 — then either the union coalition could call a strike, or MTA could lock out the workers.
“The clock is ticking,” said Lang in concluding his remarks.
The coalition of five rail unions includes the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU).
For more information, see the following news stories:
- NY Post — LIRR unions blast MTA over stalled bargaining talks, threaten strike in May
- CBS New York — MTA, unions working to avoid possible LIRR strike in mid May. Here’s what each side wants.
Locomotive photo by Dave Levene, BLET Division 269