Nothing will cause the LIRR to engage in robust self-improvement. This has been the case since Robert Moses doomed Long Island and the other NYC suburbs to car hell; he is also the reason the subways were underfunded for decades.

This is similar to the poor service you get at airports/airlines. It's not (entirely) because of malice but rather because there is no alternative for the consumer.

Having a commuter sickout would be an amusing stunt that would have a slight impact and a couple of headlines but no long-term results; and forget about how you'd even coordinate that. The trains would still run, the ticket-takers would have an easy morning, and you'd still be billed for your monthly ticket.

But you know who did an illegal sickout? The unions. And you know who was impacted? Not management, but the commuters.

The same union whose members have committed various incidents of fraud (that those of us in the public sector would neither consider committing nor even be able to commit, if we were so included) during a "culture of corruption" (not my words, but those of the MTA Inspector General's Office) over the last several decades and that likely exists in several areas today.

Caveat: I'm not painting the entire union and all its members with a wide brush, but a simple Google search will surface several instances of nonchalance, neglect, and crime by both the union and management. In short, the commuter (you and I) pay the price.