LIRR Strike Ends With Contract Deal Between MTA, Unions, Hochul Says

LONG ISLAND, NY — Three days after 3,500 Long Island Railroad employees initiated a strike that shut down service system-wide, the union employees and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reached an agreement to end the strike, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday night.

“Tonight, the @MTA reached a fair deal with the five LIRR unions that delivers raises for workers while protecting riders and taxpayers,” Hochul said on X. “I’m pleased to announce that phased LIRR service will resume beginning tomorrow at noon.”

Hochul didn’t say what the agreed upon raises were, or what other conditions the deal entailed. Previous negotiations had hit snags when the MTA and the unions butted heads over raises for 2026; the union had sought a 5 percent raise for the year while the MTA had sought to keep it to 3 percent.

The deal comes after the first weekday of the three-day strike, which saw commuters across Long Island forced to navigate hours-long commutes while local authorities debuted their own plans to fill in gaps in commuter coverage.