Posted on: May 16, 2026 04:51 PM

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Average salary need more raise in still under negotiation for LIRR

LIRR strike after 30 years.

$127,588 is the average payroll for LIRR workers while another 25% earns over $250,000. With overtime, the average goes over $60,000. Those figures are not enough to survive in NY and now the strike started last midnight shutting down LIRR.

The MTA offered 3% increase plus lump sum payment for the fourth year but the five LIRR unions that control the NY Governor demand 5% increase. Some of the positions require years of experience to become qualified except management and administrative, not to mention the dangers associated with working on or near the tracks.

No matter what, MTA is broke and in need of more taxpayer funds from city, state, federal where no one knows the transparency activities are. It's a top secret the public has no right to know.

As of now, the MTA has an annual budget of $21.3 billion which is not enough.

By next week or Monday, a deal will be made and the Governor will look forward to new enforcement to generate more for the MTA.

LIRR which started in 1834 is the one of the oldest and largest railway systems nationwide that carries around 300,000 commuters from Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens to Manhattan and vice versa.

As of now, riders pay just 25% of the costs to operate the LIRR which has no major impact so how about making that free for all. The rest are added by taxpayer funds.

Long Island pays 50% of tax revenue to the state and the Governor gave a portion to the NYC Mayor to fill the claimed deficit to balance the city budget just like that.

So nice of the Governor.

Many insiders say the strike can be averted by the Governor if that portion was not gifted to the NYC Mayor.

So for now, use public transportation from buses to subways which are all safe to travel around NYC.

The MTA’s contingency plan includes limited shuttle buses during peak hours from select LIRR stations, with riders dropped off in Queens at Jamaica or Howard Beach-JFK Airport before taking the subway into Manhattan starting Monday morning.