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1 revisions for "The $61 Million Question: Inside the LIRR Strike, Six-Figure Salaries, and a 2% Wage Gap That Shut Down America's Busiest Railroad"

Anonymous2 days ago

A coalition of five unions representing 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers walked off the job on May 16, 2026 — the first strike in 32 years — stranding 300,000 daily commuters over a 2-percentage-point wage gap between the unions' 5% demand and the MTA's 3% offer. Payroll data showing that half of LIRR workers earn six-figure salaries has fueled public backlash, but the compensation picture is complicated by structural overtime driven by staffing shortages, three years without raises during a period of elevated inflation, and an MTA financial structure shaped more by Albany's political choices than by union wage growth.