Tick tick, tick tick
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a consortium of Long Island Rail Road unions broke off contract talks on Monday, six days before LIRR workers are authorized to strike.
They could walk off the job beginning at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
"There is a big gulf," MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast told reporters at the authority's headquarters late in the afternoon. Prendergast last week visited Washington, where he verified that congressional leaders told him Congress would not intervene.
"At this point it's absolutely regrettable to say that we've come to a complete impasse," chief union Anthony Simon told reporters earlier in the afternoon in Times Square.
The MTA rejected a union counteroffer to a proposal to raise employees' pay by a little over 18% over seven years. The union wants 17% over six. The MTA's offer also calls for some health-care contributions by LIRR workers, who now pay nothing.
Moody's Investors Service said a generous settlement could force the MTA to divert pay-as-you-go funds from critical capital needs and force more debt issuance. The authority is one of the largest issuers of municipal debt, with roughly $34 billion of debt as of May 30.
"If we accept on their terms, that would put tremendous pressure on fare increases in our financial plan and the funding of our capital program, both of which are vitally important to the MTA," said Prendergast.
He opposes delaying the strike deadline to September, the peak of hurricane season.
The impasse opens the door for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to step in and settle the matter as he did two months ago to with the MTA's subway workers. Last week, though, he said he wouldn't because the MTA is a state agency and even though it operates the LIRR, the federal Railway Labor Act governs commuter rail lines.
A message seeking comment was left with Cuomo's office in Albany. Cuomo's father, Mario Cuomo, was governor in 1994 when LIRR workers last struck.
"Gov. Cuomo clearly does not want a Long Island Rail Road strike during an election year," said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
The LIRR, the nation's largest commuter railroad, caries 300,000 riders daily. On Friday, MTA officials released a strike
The MTA also moved its committee and full board meetings from July 21 and July 23 to July 28, with committee meetings in the morning and the board in the afternoon.
