{"id":236458,"date":"2026-05-19T09:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236458\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:03:21","slug":"we-all-should-unite-new-york-bus-drivers-speak-out-in-support-of-long-island-rail-road-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/236458\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe all should unite\u201d: New York bus drivers speak out in support of Long Island Rail Road strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Island Rail Road workers walk on the picket line outside of Penn Station on the third day of their strike, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. [AP Photo\/Heather Khalifa]<\/p>\n

Late Monday night, the five unions representing Long Island Rail Road workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) reached a deal to end the powerful three-day strike\u2014the first LIRR walkout in 32 years. No terms of the agreement were immediately disclosed. The unions are ordering their approximately 3,500 members back on the job without any clear understanding of what was agreed to, let alone an opportunity to vote on it.<\/p>\n

Every indication is that this deal is a sellout and must be opposed. Governor Kathy Hochul, who previously slandered strikers as \u201creckless\u201d and sought to pit workers and riders against them, gloated on X about the deal: \u201cTonight, the MTA reached a fair deal with the five LIRR unions that delivers raises for workers while protecting riders and taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strike by approximately 3,500 LIRR workers has paralyzed the traffic of about 950 trains across its network serving roughly 250,000 daily riders. No trains operated since Friday. Service is set to resume in phases starting at noon on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The strike, followed years of fruitless negotiations with the MTA, the state agency which operates the LIRR and MetroNorth commuter lines, as well as subway and bus service in New York City, over wages and healthcare costs. Workers have seen their incomes eroded through inflation, and a range of other issues are pressing on the workers, ranging from healthcare to sick leave.<\/p>\n

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2014who was elected last November on a wave of social anger against inequality, promising free buses and taxes on the rich\u2014has still not given even verbal support to the strikers, much less visited the picket lines.<\/p>\n

In a statement Monday night, the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) urged LIRR workers to \u201cdemand the immediate, full and public disclosure of every term of the agreement that has been negotiated in their name.\u201d It continued: \u201cthe strike has demonstrated the enormous strength of the working class in the capital of global finance capital, New York City.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A joint walkout by LIRR and New York subway and bus workers \u201cbacked by the active sympathy of nurses, teachers, municipal employees, and the broader working class across the region would have shut down the financial capital of American capitalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WSWS spoke to transit workers at the East New York Bus Depot about the strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet these people back what they want,\u201d a bus driver said. \u201cMeet the demands so we could move forward, because it\u2019s just not fair. I think what they\u2019re aiming for, they should get it. That\u2019s it. Bottom line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all should unite collectively. Do what we need to do to get done because that\u2019s the only way it\u2019s going to get done. And we collectively do it, you know, as a whole and stand on it and be consistent and mean it. You know, we move the city. The city don\u2019t move us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The contract for 40,000 bus and subway drivers in Transport Workers Union Local 100 also expired Saturday, the same day the strike began. Asked what he was looking for in the new contract, the driver stressed the health and safety issues. The bus facility, he said, has had problems with asbestos exposure among other things, and on the buses themselves a number of drivers have been subject to assaults.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to lock in. Time to stick together, unify, unite. Don\u2019t settle for less and fight for what\u2019s ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another bus driver said of the LIRR strikers, \u201cThey deserve their demands. I feel like the bus operators also should go on strike. And I\u2019m hearing that since I\u2019m on probation [for being a new hire], and if I commit to the terms, I could possibly be fired. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s right at all.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely supportive of my brothers here at the MTA and the union. I feel like we deserve it. We work hard. We do a lot. We deal with a lot of people, and I feel like we need more than what they are giving us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the TWU contract, he said the key issues for him include \u201cdefinitely, a raise. I feel like we deserve more. I feel like we shouldn\u2019t have to pay for tolls when we\u2019re crossing the bridges, because a lot of us can\u2019t live here in our own city that we work in, because we can\u2019t afford it. Also they only allow us 30 minutes of swing time, which is lunch. I feel like we should get a minimum of at least an hour. Shifts are usually between 8 and 12 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WSWS noted that Mamdani won on a program of affordability and making buses free, and that MTA police were present at that very moment taking people off buses and issuing citations. The worker responded, \u201cMamdani speaks a lot but doesn\u2019t do a lot. I feel like he should be doing a lot more, especially for our city workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have all this money to support the war, but us that are here actually working and busting our butts, we can\u2019t even afford to live in a regular building here in our own city. The rent is high, food is high, everything is so high, and I feel like they should be supporting us more than they\u2019re supporting a war that really has no meaning, killing people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other bus drivers were emphatic about the need for unity and that the MTA\u2019s offers fall far short. One driver told the WSWS: \u201cThey are offering us 68 cents for [a pay] increase. That is no good, and they want to take something away from us in addition. They want to take away our medical coverage. I don\u2019t accept that. We want to get improved wages and health coverage, not less. I would be in favor of bringing us on strike together with the LIRR strike. Think what we could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A driver of 26 years added, \u201cIt is well needed for transit workers to join the LIRR strike.\u201d Another spoke to LIRR workers directly: \u201cHold the fort. Don\u2019t give up until they give you what you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the IWA-RFC Newsletter<\/p>\n

Get email updates on workers\u2019 struggles and a global perspective from the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Island Rail Road workers walk on the picket line outside of Penn Station on the third day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[47081,1607,9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-236458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-global-class-struggle","tag-long-island-rail-road","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}