By Philip Newman
The MTA and unions of the Long Island Rail Road will meet in a negotiating session Friday to discuss the MTA’s latest offer, which the unions have already called inadequate.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and numerous towns along the LIRR routes are working on contingency plans in the case of a strike, possibly as soon as July 20.
Anita Miller, MTA labor relations director, told a press briefing Tuesday at the agency’s Manhattan headquarters that the MTA had offered pay raises averaging 17 percent along with “everything they have repeatedly said they would accept” in a seven-year contract.
Unions representing some 5,000 LIRR workers had called for the pay raises along with other benefits, but in a six-year contract rather than the seven-year period.
Anthony Simon, chief negotiator for the LIRR unions, termed the MTA’s latest proposal offer Monday as “way below” what the workers requested.
Miller said that although the MTA sweetened its offers several times in months of negotiations, the LIRR unions “have not modified their position one cent.”
She said the MTA was doing “everything we can in hopes we can forestall any job action.”
As far as preparations for a strike are concerned, Adam Lisberg, chief MTA spokesman, said buses would play a role in accommodate riders in the event of strike. Parking lots at Citi Field and Kennedy Airport have been mentioned as possible spots where LIRR riders could drive their cars and park before boarding buses.
“But some people talk of ‘replacing’ the LIRR with buses,” Lisberg said. “Nothing can replace the Long Island Rail Road, which carries an average of 300,000 passengers each day.”
He said the LIRR makes it possible for so many people to live on Long Island.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-260-4536.
