Overview
- An executive order establishes a three-member Presidential Emergency Board to investigate the Long Island Rail Road contract impasse and issue non-binding recommendations.
- The panel has 60 days to report its findings, followed by a 60-day cooling-off period that delays any strike or lockout until at least mid-May under federal law.
- Labor leaders requested the intervention and said there have been no bargaining sessions since July, while the MTA says any higher raises must be tied to work-rule changes.
- A prior federal board recommended 14% raises over four years plus a $3,000 lump sum, but the MTA countered with 9.5% over three years, a deal some unions accepted.
- The new board’s members will be appointed by the president and must have no financial ties to rail carriers or unions, and New York officials offered no immediate comment on the order.