Yet another reason for privatizing mass transportation emerged Saturday morning, after a left-wing rail union launched a strike set to snarl the nation’s busiest commuter railroad network.
The labor action threatens to paralyze the Long Island Rail Road, a critical transportation artery spanning the New York City-to-Long Island corridor and linking Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens with Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), which endorsed former left-wing and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, said its 3,500 members who work for the LIRR went on strike early Saturday morning.
“No agreement on wage increases was reached between a coalition of five unions, including BLET, and the LIRR. In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act, the coalition’s 3,500 members went on strike just after midnight,” BLET wrote on X.
No agreement on wage increases was reached between a coalition of five unions, including BLET, and the LIRR. In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act, the coalition’s 3,500 members went on strike just after midnight on Saturday, May 16. Story: https://t.co/UcCgIVItiA pic.twitter.com/BW9Un14kHc
— Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (@BLET) May 16, 2026
BLET’s National Vice President Kevin Sexton was quoted by AP News as saying that negotiations between the union and the LIRR have collapsed.
“We’re far apart at this point,” Sexton said. “We are truly sorry that we are in this situation.”
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said LIRR “gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay,” and that to him it was apparent the unions always intended to walk out.
In fact, we detailed in August 2025 a comprehensive “Color Revolution: A Strategic Assessment (2025-2028),“ outlining how left-wing unions and NGOs were planning “coordinated, targeted, and nonviolent strategic action such as national strikes and boycotts, large-scale disruption to economic activity and civil society, and other forms of mass political defiance designed to damage a government’s legitimacy, authority, and capacity.”
The rail strike threatens major disruption for roughly 270,000 daily riders and could cost the region an estimated $61 million in lost economic activity per day.
The labor action will likely backfire because LIRR riders are mostly middle-class, and the shutdown of the transportation network will hurt working households the most.
Limited shuttle bus service is planned beginning Monday, but capacity will cover only a fraction of normal ridership.
This is the first strike on the LIRR since 1994, and the timing could not be worse, as commuting across the service area will be a nightmare come Monday morning. This is also unfolding in a state controlled by unhinged Democrats, alongside a socialist mayor in NYC.