The Long Island Rail Road and local private-sector unions have reached a project labor agreement designed to reduce the LIRR’s labor costs on seven major construction projects by nearly 11%, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the railroad.
Cuomo said the move would save the railroad an estimated $6.5 million over five years while protecting local trade union jobs.
The agreement, negotiated between the LIRR and the Buildings and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, is a first for the MTA and the LIRR. The pact includes a no-strike clause on the covered projects, provides opportunities for minorities and women to enter trade-union apprentice programs and includes non-discrimination provisions in union hiring hall and job-placement practices.
The first project to benefit from the agreement, which the MTA’s board of directors must approve, will be civil and structural work for Phase 1 of the LIRR’s proposed construction of a second track on its main line between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma scheduled to get underway early next year.
The MTA has budgeted $137.7 million for this first phase in its 2010-2014 capital plan.
