The Strike Is Now a Political Grenade

The Long Island Rail Road is still shut down. No new negotiations are scheduled. And instead of fixing it, the politicians are busy pointing fingers.

Governor Kathy Hochul fired the first shot Saturday, releasing a formal statement blaming the Trump administration for the strike. That's the same strike she, as New York's governor, had months to prevent.

President Trump responded on Truth Social within hours. "Failed New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, a Dumacrat, just blamed ME for her Long Island Railroad STRIKE, when she knows, full well, that I have NOTHING TO DO WITH IT," Trump wrote, according to Just The News. He said he'd never even heard about the strike until that morning.

Trump then pivoted immediately to campaign mode, endorsing Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman for governor and offering to personally intervene. "Call me if you can't do it, I will get it done — I know all the players, great people!!!"

The Harshest Criticism Comes From Labor

The mainstream response has largely overlooked a significant statement: John Samuelsen, International President of the Transport Workers Union — a man who represents 40,000 subway and bus workers — told the NY Post that Hochul deliberately let this strike happen for political reasons.

"I don't think it's any coincidence that she's doing this right in his backyard," Samuelsen said, referring to Blakeman's home turf in Nassau County. His claim: Hochul wants to trigger the strike, let Republicans take the blame, and pick up votes on Long Island ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial race.

Samuelsen, a sitting union leader and Democrat-aligned figure, accused a Democratic governor of using 275,000 commuters as political pawns.

The Negotiator at the Center

Samuelsen raised a second concern about the MTA's chief labor negotiator, Gary Dellaverson.

Dellaverson was the MTA's chief labor negotiator in 2005 — the year a contract dispute with TWU Local 100 ended in an illegal strike that shut down New York City's entire subway and bus system for three days during the December holiday season.

"I do believe the hiring of Dellaverson has gone underreported," Samuelsen told the NY Post. "It was foreshadowing of things to come."

Hochul's office controls the MTA. She chose this negotiator. Few in the mainstream press have asked why.

What the Two Sides Actually Wanted

The five LIRR unions representing approximately 3,500 workers wanted raises in the 4% to 5% range, according to CNN. The MTA was offering 3%. That gap is real but not enormous.

Two separate federal panels reviewed both sides' arguments and sided with the unions, according to CNN. The MTA then reportedly moved closer to the union's position — but added a last-minute demand that workers absorb higher healthcare costs. The unions called that unacceptable. Talks collapsed.

The LIRR brought in $636 million in fare revenue last year — roughly $2 million per weekday, according to CNN. Every day of this strike is burning money that comes from riders' pockets. Even monthly pass holders are entitled to prorated refunds.

CNN vs. Fox: What Each Side Emphasized

CNN focused on the workers — their first raise since 2022, the high cost of living in the New York metro area, the federal panels backing union demands. But CNN barely mentioned Hochul's role in the breakdown.

Fox News covered the strike but its source article was largely a content aggregation page — thin on actual reporting about the political dynamics.

The NY Post and Just The News did the actual digging: the Samuelsen accusations, the Dellaverson hire, Trump's Truth Social post, and the Hochul-Blakeman political angle.

Samuelsen himself warned that if Democrats don't call Hochul out, "they may very well pay the price" in November.

What's Actually Missing: A Resolution

As of Saturday morning, according to CNN, there were no reported new talks between the two sides.

Hochul's spokesperson Gordon Tepper called Samuelsen's comments political commentary and said the governor "directed the MTA to offer fair options to LIRR workers without driving up fares or taxes for Long Islanders."

Trump's Truth Social post offered bravado rather than concrete steps.

Samuelsen — while raising legitimate questions — represents subway workers, NOT the LIRR unions at the negotiating table.

The Current State

More than 275,000 commuters were stranded on day one of a strike that multiple federal panels, and apparently both sides' own negotiators, came within inches of preventing. The MTA blew it up at the last minute over healthcare costs. Hochul, who controls the MTA, pointed at Trump. Trump pointed back. A union president is pointing at everyone.

No one with actual power to end this is currently in active negotiations. The people paying the price are the ones who take the train to work.