Gothamist76%
MTA braces for LIRR strike, threatens fare hike and service cuts if workers get demands 64%
By Stephen Nessen71%
4/29/2026, 8:47:40 PM
Topics: New York City
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including False Dilemma, Confirmation Bias, and Pessimism Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 27.5% saturation with 190 hits. Analysis detected 1,102 faulty-reasoning hits from 692 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 58.6% and a BS Rank of 64% (6,168 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 63.30% of the article peer group.
The MTA is barreling toward a Long Island Rail Road strike as the agency remains deadlocked with a group of unions over pay increases and changes to work rules.
The workers could walk off the job as soon as May 16, which would shut down the busiest commuter railroad in the United States.
MTA leaders on Wednesday said they’re now preparing a fleet of shuttle buses and beginning to warn the railroad’s more than 300,000 daily riders to brace for a strike.
The MTA and five unions that represent more than half of the LIRR’s workforce have been at an impasse since last year.
The unions are demanding a 5% raise in the final year of their contract.
The MTA is insisting on a 3% bump, claiming a higher pay increase would force them to impose draconian fare hikes and service cuts.
The unions and MTA officials hadn't met face-to-face for weeks until labor leaders showed up to the MTA board meeting on Wednesday.
“ An agreement cannot be reached when one side refuses to come to the table,” said Gilman Lang, general chair of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, one of the five unions threatening a strike.
"Since the last meeting, we requested, 40 days have passed.
No response, no new bargaining sessions, no counter proposals, no sense of urgency, rather than working towards a settlement, the MTA is preparing the public for failure.”
After his remarks, MTA Chair Janno Lieber, LIRR President Rob Free and the MTA’s labor relations lawyers met with the union officials right there on the spot.
“Let’s go in the back and negotiate,” Lieber said.
“Let’s go have a discussion, see if we can make some progress, because I think we both very much want to get something going.”
The two sides did not announce a deal on Wednesday.
MTA officials said they agreed to meet again next week.
Meanwhile, MTA officials said they’re preparing as many as 275 buses that would carry commuters to subway stations every 10 minutes during the morning and evening commutes if the workers end up striking.
The buses would run from the Hempstead Lake State Park, Hicksville, and Mineola LIRR stations to the JFK-Howard Beach stop on the A train.
There would also be shuttle buses from Huntington and Ronkonkoma stations to the Jamaica-179th Street stop on the F line.
MTA Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel warned it would cost as much as $550,000 a day just to run these extra buses.
She did not lay out how much the agency would save through not paying the LIRR workers during a strike.
“ Riders will be frustrated.
The local economy will struggle and trust in our service will erode,” said Patel.
“I think it’s clear [that] a strike is bad for everyone.”
She warned that giving the union a 5% raise in its final year of the contract would set a precedent for other unions.
The MTA’s contract with Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents subway and bus workers, expires in May.
Unlike the LIRR workers, state law prohibits the NYC Transit workers from going on strike.
Patel warned that if the MTA gives in to the unions’ demands, the agency would have to increase fares by 8% next year and cut service and jobs.
She said a 5% pay bump would be feasible if the unions were willing to cut costs by giving up some work benefits.
The MTA wants to end perks, like those that give double pay to train engineers who drive a diesel and electric locomotive on the same day.
A spokesperson for the unions said the MTA’s remarks were “absurd.”
“It won’t raise fares a dime,” union spokesperson Jamie Horowitz said.
He said Lieber’s previous remarks that many people can work from home are also unfair.
“What world does Janno Lieber live in with remarks like that?
He certainly doesn’t live in Long Island, where people need the train and a strike brought on by management's intransigence and arrogance will stop trains and clog already jammed highways?”
Horowitz said.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.