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A strike by workers on the Long Island Rail Road, the United States’ largest commuter rail service, has been averted for now, and could be postponed for several months.
Sept. 15, 2025, 1:09 p.m. ET
A strike on the Long Island Rail Road, the biggest commuter rail service in the United States, will be avoided for at least several months, after the unions threatening a work stoppage took the unusual step of seeking the White House’s intervention.
Unions representing thousands of workers for the railroad, which carries more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City, could have walked off the job as early as Thursday. A federal agency that had been overseeing negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the railroad, last month permitted the workers to proceed with a strike.
But on Monday, representatives of the five unions — including engineers, machinists and signalmen — said they had officially asked President Trump to form a panel known as a presidential emergency board, which would postpone the strike and seek to reach a contract settlement.
The soonest a strike could now occur is mid-January, but further federal intervention could push off the strike to May 2026, according to representatives of the unions.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Stefanos Chen is a Times reporter covering New York City’s transit system.
