Cuomo: Pending LIRR strike is for Congress to take up

[hrmjustin]

Jimmy Vielkind

ALBANY—The looming strike of Long Island Rail Road workers is not Governor Andrew Cuomo's problem, he told reporters on Monday.

“I've gotten involved in a number of union disputes, but those are contracts with the state of New York and they are in the contracts with the state of New York,” Cuomo said. “The L.I.R.R. is a little different, because the way law is written, it's actually Congress that can end the strike and impose a settlement one way or the other. So right now it seems that Congress is pivotal to what happens, and from what I read in the newspapers, it's going to depend on what Congress intends to do and what they say they're going to do.”

Workers on the railroad, a subsidiary of the state-controlled Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are demanding a 17-percent raise over a six years. They are saying they could strike on July 20.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/07/8548495/cuomo-pending-lirr-strike-congress-take?top-featured-2

[hrmjustin]

1. MTA, LIRR Unions To Resume Contract Talks As Potential Strike Nears

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/mta-lirr-union-to-resume-contract-talks-as-potential-strike-nears/