Long Island Rail Road workers rally for contract
Associated Press
MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. More than 3,000 unionized Long Island Rail Road workers and their supporters rallied for a new contract Saturday, saying they wanted to send a message to transit officials and New York's governor ahead of a strike threatened for next month.
"The governor needs to step up, tell the MTA to wake up and extend this cooling off period, so we don't have a crushing blow to the economy of eastern Long Island," said the workers' chief negotiator, Anthony Simon.
The railroad's unions voted to authorize a strike July 20 after working without a contract since 2010. President Barack Obama appointed two emergency boards to help resolve the dispute but the state agency that runs the railroad, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, rejected both non-binding recommendations.
The emergency board's last proposal called for a 17 percent raise over six years while leaving work rules and pensions alone.
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