North America’s largest commuter rail system shuts down as workers strike

Workers at the Long Island Rail Road, serving the eastern New York metropolitan area, walked off the job on Saturday North America’s largest commuter rail system was shut down on Saturday after unionized workers in the New York City area went on strike. The Long Island Rail Roa

d that serves the city’s eastern suburbs ceased operations on early Saturday morning after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job. The two sides have been negotiating for months on a new contract, and the Trump administration had even interceded to try and broker a deal. But the unions were legally allowed to strike starting at 12.01am on Saturday. Kevin Sexton, national vice-president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, said no new negotiations have been scheduled. “We’re far apart at this point,” Sexton said early on Saturday. “We are truly sorry that we are in this situation.” Janno Lieber, the MTA chairman, said in a statement on Saturday that “this was not the result we were looking for” but added that “we cannot and will not do a deal that shifts huge costs to our riders by forcing fare hikes”. He claimed that t