LIRR strike threat: MTA labor lawyer says worker walkout is avoidable, but unions say they are far from deal

The lawyer, Gary Dellaverson, who is retired but serving as the MTA’s labor counsel amid the negotiations, told reporters that the agency and unions should be able to reach an agreement by Thursday — two days ahead of the threatened May 16 strike date.

“There is no reason why a deal can’t be reached and sent out for edification by the rank and file and approval subsequently by the MTA board, before everybody goes crazy on Friday,” Dellaverson said during a May 13 news conference at the MTA’s Lower Manhattan headquarters.

He also noted that the unions made a “material move” for the first time in negotiations this week, but would not specify what the move was. It apparently did not include a concession on work rule changes the MTA is seeking.

But Kevin Sexton, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), said in a statement earlier Wednesday that the notion they are close to a deal is “far-fetched.”

Late last month, MTA officials detailed their contingency plan to offer limited shuttle bus service amid an LIRR shutdown.

However, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the buses will hardly be a full replacement for rail service. She advised Long Islanders to work from home, if they can, should the strike happen.

“I want to be clear that these buses will not be able to replace full Long Island Rail Road service,” she said during an unrelated Wednesday press event. “That’s why the MTA has encouraged employers and employees on Long Island to plan for work from home early next week if a strike occurs.”

Dellaverson insisted the MTA has put all of the money the unions have been requesting “on the table” at this point. But union leaders have characterized the agency’s offer as a “gimmick.”

The labor lawyer said the main disagreement between the MTA and union leaders now is whether raises for the fourth year of the contract they are negotiating, which retroactively covers 2023 through this year, will be lump-sum or recurring. The transit agency has proposed the former, and the unions want the latter.

The unions are pushing for a 5% raise for this year, they say to keep up with the rising cost of living, which would be recurring in future years.

“The coalition of five LIRR unions has said that its 3,500 members who make up a majority of the railroad’s unionized workforce need an agreement that addresses rising inflation and the high cost of living on Long Island,” Sexton said. “We would like to reach an agreement that reflects the rising cost-of-living; anything short of that amounts to a cut in real wages.”

But the MTA is offering a one-time lump sum equivalent to a 4.5% raise.

Dellaverson said that amount brings the total contract value to $133 million when combined with the 9.5% raises from its other three years. He said that sum is exactly the same as what was recommended by a Trump administration-appointed mediation board — the only difference being that the MTA’s proposal is a lump sum rather than recurring.

“What we have on the table is dollar-wise, value-wise, during the term of the agreement, precisely the same, literally to the dollar,” he said. “This is not a gimmick, this is not uncommon.”

Dellaverson said the agency proposed a lump-sum rather than recurring amount in order to avoid setting a new pattern that other transit worker unions —  primarily TWU Local 100, which represents 40,000 MTA workers — could use as a starting point for negotiations. If that new pattern were set, he said, it would blow a hole in the agency’s finances.

“It would set a pattern which would create what the MTA has described as a crisis of affordability, so they’re trying to avoid that,” Dellaverson said. “We’re trying to avoid putting the cart in front the horse. And we’re trying to just keep things the way that they are.”