Governor Hochul seems to be leveraging the Long Island Rail Road strike as a strategic move to undermine Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and potentially sway voters away from the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate in his own region, according to a prominent transit union leader.
John Samuelsen, who serves as the International President of the Transport Workers Union, remarked, “It’s not a mere coincidence that she’s orchestrating this in his own backyard.”
He suggested that Hochul’s strategy might involve sparking a strike to shift public blame onto Blakeman and the Republican party, thereby gaining an advantage in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Samuelsen, representing the Local 100 union that includes 40,000 subway and bus workers also in negotiation discussions, accuses Hochul and her allies at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of being responsible for instigating the strike involving five LIRR unions.
He further noted that Hochul’s failure to prevent the strike could have repercussions not only on her re-election prospects but also on other Democratic races in the upcoming November elections.
“I believe that if the Democrats don’t start calling Kathy Hochul out on her behavior and her anti-trade-union ethos, they may very well pay the price,” said Samuelsen, whose union has not endorsed any candidate for governor.
The labor leader also ripped the Hochul-controlled MTA for refusing to follow the recommendations of two federal panels that would have prevented a strike and for tapping Gary Dellaverson as the MTA’s chief negotiator in ithe labor talks.
Dellaverson served as the MTA’s chief labor negotiator in 2005 during highly contentious contract disputes with TWU Local 100 that led to an illegal walkout that paralyzed NYC’s subways and buses for three days during the December holiday season.
“I do believe [the] hiring of Dellaverson has gone underreported,” said Samuelsen. “It was foreshadowing of things to come because exactly what went down in 2026 with the [LIRR] went down in 2005 because of . . . this guy.”
Hochul spokesperson Gordon Tepper said Samuelsen “has no role in these negotiations, and New Yorkers should view his political commentary accordingly.”
“This is about protecting riders and taxpayers,” said Tepper. “Gov. Hochul directed the MTA to offer fair options to LIRR workers without driving up fares or taxes for Long Islanders, and that is what they have done . . . Everyone should be focused on getting both sides back to the table.”