Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has asked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to reconsider its insistence on freezing for three years the wages of 6,000 union members who have been working on the Long Island Rail Road without a contract since June 2010.

A wage increase has been recommended by a panel of mediators appointed by President Obama to resolve the dispute between the unions and the MTA. The letter to MTA Chairman Thomas Prendergast, which was signed by several members of the New York State Congressional Delegation, advised the MTA to continue negotiations to avoid disruptions in service. The mediators concluded that the MTA could afford to increase wages.

“For the 335,000 passengers who travel on the Long Island Rail Road every day, any disruption in service would create serious problems. The dedicated men and women who operate these trains want to work under the terms of a fair contact. I urge the MTA to continue negotiations with representatives of the unions,” said Congresswoman Clarke.

In addition to commuters traveling between Long Island and New York City, many people use the Long Island Rail Road for travel within Brooklyn and Queens – particularly three stations (Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York), located near the Ninth Congressional District, which Congresswoman Clarke represents in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.