MTA Chief to Visit Congress over LIRR Dispute

Thomas Prendergast, chairman of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, plans to visit congressional leaders in Washington after July 8 talks with Long Island Rail Road unions settled nothing.

Eight unions representing 5,400 LIRR employees have threatened to walk as early as July 20, and only Congress has the authority to prevent those unions from striking.

Prendergast said he seeks clarification of the role Congress intends to play.

"The LIRR carries over 300,000 passengers every day, and the MTA is unable to provide enough alternate capacity to serve all of the people who ride the LIRR. For the hundreds of thousands of people who drive this region's $1.4 trillion economy, it is critical to know which of these options Congress intends to take," Prendergast said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, R-Calif.

Gov. Mario Cuomo earlier this week expressed reluctance to broker an agreement, as he had with the Transport Workers Union of America, Local 100, which represents subway workers. The Federal Railway Act governs LIRR and its labor contracts, while the MTA is a state agency.

The MTA two weeks ago sweetened its offer to 17% raises over seven years, including a retroactive period to 2010. The offer also calls for health care contributions of 2% from existing employees and 4% from new employees. The LIRR's largest labor organization, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union, has called the offer unacceptable.

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Transportation industry Infrastructure New York
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