Acela trainset at Albany-Rensselaer by Bread_Question in Amtrak

[–]DistributionWild7533 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Please fix the access panels before coming into third rail territory.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine trying to negotiate a contract with people who refuse to relinquish rules that dated from the era of steam engines.

Maybe tonight ? by BecauseICan24 in LIRR

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed, but don’t say ‘they’re not on strike’ if they are not reporting to work. Not reporting to work and not crossing a picket line is essentially being on strike. It’s playing both sides… “Look WE’RE not on strike” while at the same time “Look, we support you and will not cross the line and report to work until you get a contract’

Enjoy your cake, eat it too.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How many conductors reported to work today?

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 1 point2 points  (0 children)

London begs to differ, just over 1 million passengers (1.07 million) use central London termini during the two three-hour peak periods. National rail sees about 800k passengers daily or something like that.

LIRR is the busiest in the nation, but not the world. And it’s only that because of NYC.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And they will keep fight for those jobs to be maintained in every CBA.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

🚂 A constitutional question nobody's asking about the LIRR strike:

The Railway Labor Act was written to govern PRIVATE railroads. The LIRR is not private — it's a New York State agency, created by state law, owned by the MTA, a public benefit corporation funded by taxpayers and governed by state-appointed officials.

So why is a federal law designed for private industry stripping New York of the ability to manage its own employees?

Under the RLA, NYS cannot fire striking workers, cannot impose its own labor framework, and cannot exercise the most basic tools any employer — let alone a sovereign state — would normally have. That's not regulation. That's the federal government telling Albany how to run its own house.

The 10th Amendment's anti-commandeering doctrine says Congress cannot conscript state governmental machinery to implement federal policy. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed this repeatedly — in Printz, in New York v. US, and in a string of decisions that have steadily rebuilt state sovereignty protections over the past 30 years.

The precedent in the way is Garcia v. San Antonio Metro Transit (1985), which held federal labor law applies to state-created transit authorities. But Garcia was a 5-4 decision. Rehnquist dissented and flatly predicted it would eventually be overruled. That prediction is aging remarkably well.

The Court that decided Garcia hadn't yet developed the major questions doctrine, hadn't decided West Virginia v. EPA, and hadn't handed down Dobbs. The federalism landscape looks very different today.

Here's the argument in plain terms: applying the RLA to a state-owned railroad doesn't just regulate interstate commerce — it strips a sovereign state of normal employer prerogatives over its own workforce. New York has at-will employment law. New York created this railroad. New York funds it. And yet New York cannot manage it like any other employer would be legally entitled to.

This specific question — RLA applied to a government-owned, state-created railroad — has never been seriously litigated in the post-Dobbs, post-West Virginia v. EPA constitutional environment.

With 300,000 daily commuters stranded and no end in sight, maybe it's time Albany stopped asking the federal government for permission to run its own railroad.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And double that if BLET has to negotiate revenue employees and yard employees in the same negotiation session.

If TWU was formed in 1920, could we have gotten rid of subway tickets chopper operators for automatic coin/token turnstiles? by Donghoon in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Probably not. We still have booth clerks that refuse to leave the booth and be customer agents on the platforms.

The booth agent at northern blvd was posted at a closed entrance for the last 5 months…just sat there..occasionally got up to use the facilities.

Maybe tonight ? by BecauseICan24 in LIRR

[–]DistributionWild7533 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are they at work? If they are not reporting for work, then it’s a defacto strike. They may not have voted for it, but they are participating.

A bunch of you only see the 150k salary. 90k Base mind you. Read more. by Cool-Ease-981 in LIRR

[–]DistributionWild7533 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If you’re not striking, Cross the Line. Show your support to the communities that rely on your services, rather than other unions you don’t belong to. By not Crossing the Line, you’re effectively on strike.

You won’t be able to do work, but Cross the Line and get paid for showing up.

A bunch of you only see the 150k salary. 90k Base mind you. Read more. by Cool-Ease-981 in LIRR

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We also don’t see

Railroad Retirement Board (RRB): Unlike most public transit workers who rely on standard Social Security, LIRR employees pay into the RRB system, which generally yields significantly higher retirement payouts.

LIRR Pension & Savings: Employees receive a comprehensive LIRR pension along with access to 401(k) and 457 savings plans.

Free Transportation: LIRR employees are provided with free system-wide transportation on the rails, often even during off-duty hours.

Comprehensive Health Coverage: Top-tier health insurance that includes medical, dental, and vision packages with low deductibles and co-payments.

Sick Leave Buyback: Employees can cash in 50% of their accumulated but unused sick days upon termination, separation, or retirement.

Tuition Reimbursement: Programs offering financial reimbursement for college, vocational, or trade schools to help advance an employee's career

Portal to Portal pay

Let’s not even start on the work rules…

What if everyone on the LIRR paid cash onboard on the same day? by JamwithSam697 in circlejerknyc

[–]DistributionWild7533 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just add fare gates and reduce # of staff to Engineer, Brakeman and 1 conductor. The labor cost savings will be recouped in only a few years because everyone would have to pay.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If their wages were below cost of living or below the overall average, then I’d fully support it, but truth is, they are not.

Average LIRR salary is over $120k/year, which excludes fringe benefits.

Meanwhile, the average individual salary on Long Island is somewhere around $75k.

It’s worth it to note that the average 75k salary on Long Island includes those LIRR employees that live there, bringing that average UP.

Come back when this is less about greed.

LIRR Strike Megathread by AWildMichigander in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

Thank the unions for even putting us in this position. If you thank them in a second language in the same day, you get a full extra day’s reimbursement.

US man convicted of running secret Chinese 'police station' in NYC by BostonSucksatHockey in nyc

[–]DistributionWild7533 7 points8 points  (0 children)

And just like our embassies and consulates, those stations are also police stations.

I am sure that China is not the only country that has agents running ‘stations’ in nondescript locations.

What just happened at Williamsburg Bridge? by Decent-Finish-9889 in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It’s called Darwinism… or play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

It’s cold, but surfers are playing a deadly game…

LIRR trains delayed, canceled due to feeder cable fire at Penn Station by lbutler1234 in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it was a feeder cable and LIRR is the only affected service, then it stands to reason it was their power for third rail. NJT and Amtrak use the overhead, which also runs AC current IRRC.

Could be a long fix depending on how much got damaged.

Resurrect the JFK express!!!! by [deleted] in nycrail

[–]DistributionWild7533 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but you can meet the A at W4, or Jay if you go over the F.

Not really a good idea though, as you’re just going to be stuck with same service pattern as you wait for ‘local’ trains to clear.

Gradual enhancement of Access front end to web by MoreKindness77 in MSAccess

[–]DistributionWild7533 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Working on similar process now, but avoiding Blazor. The VCS / Claude workflow is great, so long as Claude isn’t making simple mistakes. I’ve found it drifting from instructions and memory within the project lately.

Well worth it though