Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee correspondent
About 3500 rail workers of New York City’s Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) have been on strike since 16 May 2026. This has led to closure of the North America’s largest suburban rail system. Nearly 300,000 passengers use the LIRR daily to travel between New York City and its suburbs.
It is the first strike on the LIRR in over 30 years, following a two-day stoppage in 1994.
The strike call was given by five unions representing about half its workforce after months’ negotiations with the management over wage increases, health care premiums and work rules failed.
The unions, which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and other train workers, have said more substantial raises were warranted to help workers keep up with inflation and rising living costs.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union said rail workers have gone three years without raises during the bargaining process.
LIRR’s workforce was seeking a 9.5-percent retroactive pay raise covering the last three years, as well as a five-percent raise for 2026. The state’s rail authority offered only a 3-percent raise and a lump sum cash payment.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union said in a statement that the union workers “are not asking for special treatment — they are simply fighting to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living in the New York region after years without a raise.”
It is important to note that New York’s rail workers have gone on strike despite the fact that the Federal law (central government law) makes it extremely difficult for rail workers to strike and even allows Congress (America’s parliament) to block a strike.
