Labor
negotiations, LIRR, Long Island Rail Road, monica miller, Presidential
Emergency Board, Sheet Metal Air And Transportation Union, Strike
NEW
YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — President Barack Obama has appointed a second
Presidential Emergency Board to help resolve a labor dispute between the Long
Island Rail Road and some of its employees.
The
announcement Thursday means a strike that could have come as early as Friday would
be put off until July at the earliest. But board’s recommendations are
non-binding.
“I
appreciate that these dedicated individuals have agreed to devote their talent
and years of experience working on labor-management disputes to help reach a
swift and smooth resolution of this issue,” Obama said in a statement released
by the White House.
The
emergency board will obtain final offers for settlement of the dispute from
each side in the 60 days following its establishment. The board will then
produce a report to the President that selects the offer that the Board finds
to be the most reasonable, the White House said.
The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority rejected the first board’s
recommendations.
“The
recommendations of the first Presidential Emergency Board ignored the enormous
burden that a 17 percent wage increase over six years without a single change
in work rules or other cost offest would place on the MTA’s budget,” spokesman
Aaron Donovan told WCBS 880′s Monica Miller.
The
agency said it remains hopeful an agreement can be reached.
Members
of the Sheet Metal, Air and Transportation Union, the railroad’s largest union,
voted to strike in February. Smaller LIRR unions have approved similar votes to
walk off the job.
LIRR
unions have been without a contract since 2010. Smaller LIRR unions have
approved similar votes to walk off the job.
A
strike would send 300,000 daily commuters scrambling to find an alternate means
of transportation.
If a
strike happens, it would be the LIRR’s first since 1994.
Source:
CBS
New York
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