Teamsters with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and their union coalition have reached a tentative agreement with Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to end the carrier’s first strike in over three decades. The agreement provides workers with raises that maintain their standard of living while strengthening work rules and improving benefits.

Thousands of workers from five unions were forced to strike by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) refusal to offer them a fair contract. BLET Teamsters and their coalition partners set up picket lines at major LIRR hubs immediately after midnight on Saturday, May 16.

The coalition spent years bargaining with the MTA for a new agreement. The process included two Presidential Emergency Boards that ruled in favor of the unions. In that time, workers went without raises as inflation ate away their standard of living.

-via Press Release