MTA Negotiations Push Possible LIRR Strike to July
BY KELLY WEILL
A potential Long Island Rail Road workers strike has been postponed from its proposed March 21 date–but slow negotiations with MTA officials may cause the strike to resume in full force this July.
LIRR union leaders met with both elected officials and the media Friday morning to address the status of the planned protest. Workers in LIRR unions have been locked in a bargaining process with the MTA since June 2010, when union contracts with the transit authority expired. The workers, who lobbied for increased wages and benefits, have been met with resistance from the MTA, which has enacted a three-year freeze on wage increases outside work-rule changes.
Speaking at the Downtown Brooklyn Press Conference, Anthony Simon, General Chairman of the United Transportation Union, placed the blame on the MTA;
“Labor prevented this strike,” he declared. “The MTA provoked this strike.”
http://politicker.com/2014/02/mta-negotiations-push-possible-lirr-strike-to-july/