Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service stopped entirely early Saturday due to a strike.
About 3,500 employees—including engineers, signal workers, machinists, electricians, and communications workers—from a coalition of five unions initiated a labor stoppage at 12:01 a.m. after contract negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on wage raises fell through.
The LIRR carries nearly 300,000 passengers on an average weekday and ranks as the busiest commuter railroad in the United States.
“This strike would not have happened if the MTA and LIRR offered our members the reasonable terms the government recommended multiple times,” Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Mark Wallace said in a statement. “We hope LIRR gets serious soon to avoid further unnecessary disruptions for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. They know where to find us when they’re ready: on the streets.”…