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LIRR strike draws Hochul a roadmap for the true fight still to come

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This week’s Long Island Rail Road walkout holds a lesson for Gov. Kathy Hochul: We’re going to need a bigger strike. 

And when this new agreement expires just 15 months from now, Hochul — assuming she wins re-election this fall — has the tools she needs to make a deal that finally addresses the railroad’s decades-old labor issues.  

Last Friday, five LIRR unions walked off the job to protest the state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s modest effort to hold the line on raises. 

Hochul, to her credit, didn’t immediately cave just to keep the trains running. 

She leveled with the public, treating riders as adults. 

“These unions represent the highest-paid workers of any railroad in the nation, yet they are demanding contracts that could raise fares as much as 8%,” she said.  

Deal to end LIRR strike leaves New Yorkers squeezed — but might be the best possible

Hochul, MTA largely cave to striking LIRR union workers — but insist taxpayers won’t be financially crushed

LIRR strike over after MTA, unions reach deal following 3-day walkout, commuter chaos

The impasse was over whether, after retroactive raises for three years, LIRR workers should get a 5% raise for the current year; the MTA offered 3%. (They settled on 4.5%.)

A higher raise, the MTA worried, could set a precedent for its bigger........

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