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New York Rail Strike Averted After Cuomo Intervenes

The unions received raises of 17 percent over six and a half years.

Travelers on the Long Island Rail Road were spared a debilitating midsummer strike on Thursday, when the railroad and its unions reached an agreement three days before a planned walkout.

 

Prodded by an 11th-hour, if unsurprising, intervention by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the sides completed a deal that the governor called “a compromise by both parties” four years after the last contract expired.

 

The unions received raises of 17 percent over six and a half years. But following a national trend in which workers shoulder an increasing share of their health costs, the railroad employees will, for the first time, contribute a portion of their pay, 2 percent, toward their health coverage.

 

Throughout the week, labor leaders suggested a strike was all but certain on the railroad, which accounts for about 300,000 rider trips on weekdays. At the same time, the railroad’s operator, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, cast the workers as greedy public employees and warned that a deal too favorable to the unions could affect future fare increases and capital funding.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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