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9/2/2025
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has issued a strike authorization vote for the nearly 600 BLET locomotive engineers employed by the MTA Long Island Rail Road.
BLET locomotive engineers at LIRR are currently receiving their ballots to authorize a strike, BLET officials said in an Aug. 29 newsletter. Ballots are due back to BLET on Sept. 15.
The engineers have not received a raise since April 16, 2022, BLET officials said. A contract dispute has been in National Mediation Board (NMB)-sponsored mediation since February 2024.
The BLET is in a bargaining coalition with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Transportation Communication Union. All five unions could all potentially strike as early at Sept. 18, according to a report from the New York Daily News.
Combined, the coalition makes up about 55% of the unionized workforce at LIRR. The NMB released the coalition from mediation on Aug. 18, triggering a 30-day cooling off period. At the end of 30 days, one of the parties to the dispute could request that the Trump administration creates a Presidential Emergency Board to help avert a strike, BLET officials said.
"We are only asking for a fair contract — one that provides modest wage gains, or at the very least, maintains real wages," said Gil Lang, general chairman for the BLET's LIRR engineers. “Our members would not ratify anything short of that.”
LIRR management has only made "concessionary contract offers" that would result in a loss of real wages for BLET members, Lang added.