NY’s MTA Holds Impromptu Talks With Rail Unions as Strike Looms

Labor negotiations between New York City’s transit agency and Long Island Rail Road workers spontaneously kicked off on Wednesday, after a union leader spoke out at a board meeting.

Gilman Lang, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, spoke during the public comment period at the board meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, prodding the transit agency to negotiate on contract terms. That prompted Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief executive officer, to direct agency officials to confer in a separate room with the labor leaders. The MTA oversees the city’s subway, bus and commuter lines.