(LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK) - Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Locomotive Engineers, who are Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). have gone without a pay raise for over three years, with the last coming on April 16th, 2022.

BLET-represented Locomotive Engineers operate 947 daily trains at the LIRR, carrying 250,000 customers each weekday.

The contract dispute has been in National Mediation Board (NMB)-sponsored mediation since February 2024.

The BLET is bargaining in a coalition alongside the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU).

Combined, the coalition represents more than half (55.08%) of the Unionized Workforce at LIRR.

Gil Lang, General Chairman for the BLET’s LIRR Engineers, said management has only made concessionary contract offers that would result in a loss of real wages for BLET Members: “We are only asking for a fair contract - one that provides modest wage gains, or at the very least, maintains real wages. Our Members would not ratify anything short of that.”

NMB released the Coalition from mediation on August 18th, triggering a 30-day cooling off period under the Federal Railway Labor Act.

At the end of the cooling off period, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, or one of the parties to the dispute, could request that the Trump Administration intervene and form a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to help avert a Strike.

Deadline for receipt of ballots is 11 a.m. on Monday, September 15th (2025).

To Directly Access This Labor News Story, Go To: New York: BLET conducting strike authorization vote at Long Island Rail Road | Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

Photo by Dave Levene, BLET Division 269