00:00Let's just start with what this disagreement principally is about. You have workers for the
00:05LIRR who wanted higher wages. They say what? In keeping with inflation, essentially costs have
00:10gone up, their salaries have not. That's right. I mean, they're experiencing the higher prices at
00:15the grocery store and at the gas station. And they're saying, look, to keep up with inflation,
00:21please give us, we really want close to 5%. And that's down from their original ask. So they have
00:28gone a little bit below 5%. But the MTA is saying, look, we can't afford to give you that unless
00:35we
00:35do some drastic things on the Long Island Railroad. And can't afford to give you that because were
00:40they to do it, they say, prices would go up for commuters? Absolutely. The Metropolitan
00:46Transportation Authority, which oversees the Long Island Railroad, they're saying, look, we would
00:51need to raise fares a lot more to be able to cover the wage increases that you're asking for. Or
00:57we
00:57would need to cut back on service or maybe reduce headcount, something like that.
01:01So when we were talking about this earlier this week in our meetings, I said, you know,
01:05this is a New York story. We're a global broadcast. This is just because you all take this train
01:09that you want to do this story. But I got argued down, I think, successfully, because why does this
01:14story matter across the country? To me, it's so indicative of this kind of dispute you're having
01:20in so many cities. They're trying to sustain beleaguered transit programs. I know there's
01:24a similar argument in D.C. with the metro. Philadelphia as well. With the BART. Yeah.
01:28Like all. Why does this keep happening? It's a huge issue. I mean, these systems,
01:32these transit systems, they're very expensive to run and they always rely on outside help from the
01:39state or the local government, whether it's sales tax revenue or something to help augment the
01:44the farebox revenue that comes in, because the farebox revenue alone won't cover everything.
01:50So and that's part of MTA's and Long Island Railroad's argument here is, look, if the wages
01:56go up too much, what happens is then we have to not just go back to the riders, but go
02:01back to
02:01taxpayers and say, look, we need to raise your taxes to help pay for for some of these wage increases.
02:09Now, on the other hand, you know, the the unions, the the workers, they haven't had a raise in almost
02:15four years because there there has been these ongoing negotiations for several years now about
02:23about changing the the contract and amending the contract. So, you know, they're they're feeling
02:31the higher prices as well. Let's talk about what the consequences of this are going to be.
02:36So I think Tom DiNapoli, the comptroller said, we're looking at what, 60, 61 million dollars in
02:40lost economic revenue each day that this drags on. Christina laying out at the top the amount of
02:45people who rely on the LIRR day in and day out. What's Monday morning going to look like? And what
02:51are the what's the leadership of this transit agency saying about how they're going to try to
02:55compensate so much as they can for those who need to get to work or elsewhere?
02:59Definitely. I mean, you mentioned the 61 million. That's an estimate per day. You know,
03:04there's a lot of small businesses that will be affected by this. We're just a week away from
03:11Memorial Day weekend. That is the start of the summer season out on Long Island. A lot of people
03:17in the city head out there for the beaches. They go to the Hamptons. They have a lot of fun.
03:22That is really if this strike continues, that's going to affect that summer tourism season that the
03:30island and the local economy there rely on so much. And again, you were talking about the
03:36the alternative service on Monday morning. Yeah, Monday morning looks pretty rough.
03:42This is shuttle buses. It looks pretty rough. But for the MTA transit officials, they're encouraging
03:49people to work from home if they can. But we know there's also a lot of people that's not an
03:55option.
03:55You know, if you're working at a hospital, if you're, you know, providing an essential service,
04:00you you've got to get to work and you have to be there in person. So the roads are there's
04:06going
04:06to be more cars on the road, which is not good. Long Island already has a lot of traffic.
04:10It's notoriously easy to get around. Yeah. And then what is happening is starting Monday morning for
04:15the peak a.m. and p.m. rush hours. MTA is is providing shuttle services, shuttle buses at six
04:23different locations in Long Island on Long Island that'll take you to to subway stop subway stations
04:31in Queens. As a longtime once a metro rider in D.C., I am very familiar with the subway to
04:38bus to
04:39subway situation. It makes no one in a good mood. Are they any closer to reaching a deal? Do you
04:44think
04:44this could be resolved by Monday? We're trying to find out if there's another meeting scheduled for
04:50today? It was pretty heated yesterday. It went all the way to midnight. Some words I'm sure were
05:01shared across the table. So they might need, you know, a little bit of a breather. But we're hoping
05:07that they get back together at the table again today and continue talking so this can get wrapped
05:12up as soon as possible. You quote in your piece, Kevin Sexton, the National Vice President of the
05:16Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. We do not know the duration of the strike at this time. So a bit
05:21ominous. How illustrative is the strike that we saw last year, I guess it was, in New Jersey? We saw
05:28the New Jersey strike there last, what, three days in total. What can we learn from that? And there may
05:33be some curiosity among commuters. Could the federal government step in here? Could the federal
05:38government do anything to keep this from happening or keep this from happening, I gather, on Monday?
05:42They didn't. Congress and the federal government didn't step in with New Jersey Transit. And so far,
05:49we haven't seen that yet here. But again, if this strike is prolonged, I would imagine at the federal
05:57level there is going to be a lot of incentive to help the MTA, Long Island Railroad, and the unions
06:04really come together and really get to that point where they can reach agreement on a wage increase for
06:10this year. Why does commuter rail and public transport struggle to gain traction and funding
06:15in this country in ways that it just doesn't other places? I mean, I feel like we were sort of
06:20maybe
06:20doing a little bit better. And then I know COVID really took a real big hit during COVID, both in
06:25ridership and confidence, people not wanting to just share that space with people. Has it gotten any
06:29better? Or why is it struggling so much in so many major U.S. cities that really could use the
06:34infrastructure and the help? They definitely could. It's we are very much a car culture. And, you know,
06:41I grew up in the Midwest. And it's just it's not in for most Americans, it just isn't common to
06:47get on
06:48a train, a commuter train or subway to go to work. And so it's a different mindset. If you're used
06:56to
06:56driving, it's just what you do. It's different here in New York City. We it's really part of our
07:04culture. And the city depends so much, not only on the subways and the buses, but the commuter rails as
07:10well. Michelle Cassie, thank you very much. I'll be tracking all of this here over the next 24 hours. We'll
07:14see what
07:14happens again, looking at a very busy commute on Monday morning.
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