The Long Island Railroad could soon face a strike by half of it's workforce, says Newsday's very own Alfonso Castillo. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and 4 other unions have stated that the unions and the LIRR "have been unable to reach a voluntary settlement". The union leaders wrote that they reject the board's offer of a 9.5% raise, and would rather face a federally mandated 30 day cool-day "cool-down period". Afterward, the governor may request that the White House intervene to prevent a strike. This would consist of the two Presidential Emergency Boards, which are White House appointed meditators.
Legally speaking, if the White House doesn't intervene, then, the LIRR workers could legally be aloud to go on strike next month. Having a strike for the Long Island Railroad would be detrimental for Long Island. The LIRR is the nation's busiest commuter railroad and if they were to go on strike, there is no possible way the LIRR would be able to provide even half of the service they currently do. Who knows what the temporary service plan would be.
The last LIRR strike was 31 years ago- on Friday, June 17, 1994, and was quick, settled in time for the Monday morning rush hour. The last time LIRR union workers wanted to go on strike was in 2014, but it was resolved 3 days before the actual work stoppage was set to begin.
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