Democrats ♥︎ Crushing Rail Strikes
LIRR Strike Ends Under Mamdani/Hochul Pressure
Em Smith
Workers at the largest commuter rail service in North America have ended a three-day strike, which cost NYC bosses $61 million a day.
3,500 workers at the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) in New York walked off the job on Friday, May 15 and shut down the system which transports 300,000 commuters daily — a key chokepoint for New York’s economy.
Workers quickly won a 4.5 percent raise…no thanks to NYC’s “socialist” Mayor Zohran Mamdani or Governor Kathy Hochul.
Hochul dispensed with every pro-union veneer. She immediately issued a statement calling the strike “reckless,” saying LIRR workers are the “highest paid workers of any railroad in the nation” (good!). She tried to divide workers and riders, warning that the workers’ demands could “raise fares as much as 8%” and “risk tax hikes for Long Islanders.” Never mind that she has the power to tax the rich and make public transit free.
The workers’ “reckless” demand was a 5 percent raise, which barely keeps up with inflation. MTA was offering only 3 percent.
On Monday, union leadership called off the strike after an offer from MTA that included a “compromise” 4.5 percent raise. The full details are still being kept from union members and the public.
Zohran Mamdani stayed silent throughout the strike. He dodged questions about whether he supported workers’ demands, and he refused to join the picket line. A real socialist would embrace the strike, and merge it with the fight for free mass transit. But Mamdani prefers asking the billionaires nicely and keeping the class struggle under wraps.
Democrats like Hochul and Mamdani are afraid, because LIRR workers have power, and their strike threatens to disrupt Democrats’ balancing act between keeping unions and Wall Street happy.
Democrats want to crush the strike, just like they did when they broke the national rail strike in 2022. Union leaders want to smooth things over with the Democrats. Wall Street prefers to crush the union altogether.
The OECD is forecasting 4.2 percent inflation in the U.S. in 2026. Energy prices have already risen by over 12 percent, spiking from the U.S. war on Iran. Democrats are threatening budget cuts in states and cities, while Trump threatens Medicare and Medicaid to fund his $1.5 trillion war budget. Elon Musk is set to become the world’s first trillionaire. There’s no keeping the peace between capitalists and workers.
Workers should fight for everything they need: reject the 4.5 percent offer and return to the picket lines — not just for the full 5 percent, but for permanent, annual inflation adjustments for all MTA workers. All working-class New Yorkers should have their back.