Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from Jamaica, Queens

I’m at a pick-up and drop-off location for the free shuttle buses the MTA is offering in lieu of the LIRR.

There are large signs zip-tied to nearby light poles advertising the buses at the makeshift stop.

A couple of dozen people are lined up to get on an arriving bus, which is larger than a standard MTA bus.

There are a handful of MTA workers in orange vests standing by to direct passengers.

Image source, BBC / Grace Eliza Goodwin

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York's Penn Station

I just spoke to two travelers, a couple from Brazil who are trying to make a flight in a few hours at New York's JFK International Airport.

In normal times, the Long Island Rail Road offers service to the airport from the heart of Manhattan via Jamaica, Queens, but given the strike, people have had to change their plans.

“We didn’t know about this,” one of the tourists said of the shutdown.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has blamed the Trump administration for the railroad strike in her state, spurring US President Donald Trump to fire back over the weekend.

Hochul said that the rail disruption “is the direct result of reckless actions by the Trump Administration to cut mediation short and push these negotiations toward a strike”. She also asserted that the MTA is negotiating in good faith and that her priority is to protect affordability for riders and ensure fairness across the workforce.

Responding on Truth Social on Saturday, the Republican president branded Hochul a “failed” governor and “Dumocrat”. He also said that he didn’t hear about the dispute until Saturday morning.

Trump cast blame back on Hochul, saying that she “should not have allowed this to happen” while endorsing a Republican challenger for New York governor.

“If you can’t solve it, let me know, and I’ll show you how to properly get things done. This would be an easy one for BRUCE BLAKEMAN. He should be your next Governor and New York State would turn around fast, including far less Crime, and much lower taxes!!! Kathy, call me if you can’t do it, I will get it done - I know all the players, great people!!!”

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York's Penn Station

Brooklyn resident Mekan Esenov, 22, is trying to catch a flight at the smaller Brookhaven Airport on Long Island this morning.

He got to the train station well in advance, only to discover service had been canceled. “There are no trains,” he said. “We keep waiting, and nothing is changing.”

Esenov and his friend have been waiting by the LIRR terminal, hoping that something will change, but he says there have been no updates so far.

“We looked at Uber, but it’s like $250,” he says. He adds that he’s tried to get in touch with his friends, but because of the early hour, no one is answering.

Image source, BBC / Sakshi Venkatraman

We're hearing now that negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the striking unions have begun again.

The negotiations went into the night past 01:00 EST (06:00 GMT).

They have now restarted, just as commuters are beginning what is expected to be a more stressful journey to work.

If an agreement is reached, it will still be some time before trains can be repositioned to resume service.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from Jamaica, Queens

A union representative from the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, who had been leading his fellow picketers in a chant, tells me he and other union members would rather be at work today.

“We’re hardworking men and women,” Olivier Desinor says. “We have projects we were working on. We had our usual routine.”

But, he says, they're out here today without pay, fighting for a fair wage to take care of their families.

“It's not one of the best positions we want to be in, but, thankfully, we're together in solidarity, and we're gonna get through this.“

Image source, BBC / Grace Eliza Goodwin

Image source, EPA

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has urged the unions and the MTA to reach an agreement, warning that an extended shutdown would cause widespread disruption.

The coalition of unions representing LIRR workers says it is seeking improved pay and conditions after years without wage increases.

Hochul said that as governor, she has made “historic investments in the LIRR” and worked with the MTA to increase service by 40%, improve safety for riders and workers, secure the railroad’s fiscal future after the pandemic, and deliver “transformative projects“ like the Main Line Third Track and Grand Central Madison.

She has insisted that the MTA is negotiating in good faith and that her priority is to protect affordability for riders and ensure fairness across the workforce.

Although she said that workers deserve fair wages and benefits, she noted that the labour unions represent the highest-paid workers of any railroad in the nation. She also said that it is “unacceptable” that they are demanding contracts that could raise fares as much as 8%, pit workers against one another, and risk tax hikes for Long Islanders.

The governor has also detailed MTA’s contingency plan for the work stoppage and urged all non-essential workers to work from home on Monday, if possible.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from Jamaica, Queens

“No contract,” a teamster with a bullhorn says to the crowd of picketing union workers.

“No trains!” They yell back in unison.

“Hochul? Janno?” The teamster with the bullhorn says, referring to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA CEO Janno Lieber.

“Lies!” They holler back.

A few passing pedestrians are cheering along and mentioning their support for the picketers.

Image source, BBC / Grace Eliza Goodwin

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York's Penn Station

Boards that at this time on a regular day are filled with train times are now empty, showing, like they have for the past two days, no trains going into or out of Long Island.

Image source, BBC / Sakshi Venkatraman

It’s an eerie feeling seeing the LIRR terminal completely devoid of people and trains.

During regular service, train times are loudly announced, and throngs of people waiting on the platforms make the mad dash to their trains.

Oftentimes, at the busiest hours, it’s hard to find a seat. Today, it’s quiet and emptiest I have ever seen it.

Image source, BBC / Sakshi Venkatraman

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Reporting from Jamaica, Queens

While Penn Station is unusually quiet, the Jamaica, Queens LIRR station is full of life.

Several dozen picketers are posted out front, erupting into occasional chants, passing cars are honking in support, and a local news chopper is flying overhead.

Many of the striking workers are holding up signs demanding “wages not waste” and a contract resolution.

Image source, BBC / Grace Eliza Goodwin

Roughly 250,000 weekday riders are expected to be affected because of the work stoppage, snarling today’s commute.

This comes after a weekend of no trains servicing New York's eastern suburbs and Long Island's famous beaches that stretch from the city out to the Hamptons and Montauk.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union (IAM Union) and Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) have blamed MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber for creating today’s commuter nightmare.

The MTA has yet to reach an agreement with 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers, many of whom say they haven’t had a raise in four years as the cost of living has skyrocketed.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from New York's Penn Station

I am at Manhattan’s Penn Station, which on a normal Monday morning would be one of the busiest places in New York City as commuters make their way to work.

Today, it’s completely deserted as the strike continues. A few straphangers are filtering in and out here and there, but otherwise it feels like a ghost town

Image source, BBC / Sakshi Venkatraman

The shutdown of New York's Long Island Rail Road, the busiest commuter train line in North America, has entered its third day after union workers went on strike on Saturday.

It's the first strike in over 30 years for around 3,500 union workers on the rail line, following a two-day walkout in 1994.

The New York City region is bracing for a chaotic day of travel today as hundreds of thousands of LIRR commuters must find alternate ways to get to work.

City officials have been preparing for this, with the MTA urging people to work from home, offering limited shuttle service for stranded passengers, and warning of "severe congestion and delays".

Donovan Richards Jr, the Queens borough president, told ABC's local affiliate on Sunday that he did not believe the city was fully prepared for the scale of disruption the LIRR shutdown could cause.

The bus services being offered can only carry about 13,000 passengers, Richards Jr said. That's just a fraction of the 275,000 commuters who ride the LIRR every day.

The MTA and New York Governor Kathy Hochul are urging people to work from home if they can, but Richards Jr has said working-class people do not have that luxury.

Image source, Getty Images

Five unions representing workers at the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), which stretches from New York City into the eastern suburbs of Long Island, voted to strike on Saturday after a contract agreement could not be reached with management at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

The unions, representing around 3,500 LIRR workers, are demanding higher pay. Both sides have already agreed to the terms of the first three years of a four-year contract, but reached a stalemate over the final year, which begins in June, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.

"To every LIRR passenger whose trip is disrupted, know that the MTA left us no choice but to strike," said Gil Lang, General Chairman of the LIRR General Committee at the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), one of the unions.

"We don't want to be on the picket line," Lang added. "But after three years without raises, we cannot make any more compromises to cover for the MTA's mismanagement."

The MTA's chair and CEO, Janno Lieber, said in a press release following the strike announcement that it "cannot responsibly make a deal that implodes MTA's budget".

"And we refuse to make a deal that puts it on riders and taxpayers to fund outsized wage increases – far beyond what anyone else at the MTA is getting – and for folks who are already the highest-paid railroad workers in the country," Lieber added.