Chaotic Monday commute expected amid Long Island Rail Road strike

Añadido: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]What do we want?

[00:00:03]It's a morning commute nightmare. This morning some 250,000 people who ride the nation's largest commuter rail system to work each day need to find a different way to get to work. I can't imagine what people are going to be doing on Monday. Unionized workers for New York's Long Island Railroad are on strike demanding a pay raise of up to 5% and lower health care costs. The rail system is massive, 126 stations, 700 miles of track. The railroad is the lifeblood of Long Island.

[00:00:37]Without it, life as we know it is simply not possible. The MTA, which operates the railroad, says our last offer literally gave them everything they said they wanted in terms of pay, but they rejected even that. But the union saying this strike would not have happened if the MTA and LIRR offered our members the reasonable terms the government recommended multiple times. We apologize, but we didn't want to do this. We've been negotiating, negotiating, and it finally came to the point sadly we had to do this. Shuttle buses are being offered to get people to the New York City subway, but officials are urging people to work from home if possible. Allison Kosik, ABC News, New York.