So here we go again. A new year and a new railroad but the same old carrier refusal to accept responsibility. This time, New Jersey Transit.

Twitter is awash this morning in retweet's of the MTA's post regarding negotiations with LIRR unions, tagged #strikeadeal.

What commuters and members of the public don't know is that the MTA doesn't want a deal. If it did it would have made one years ago. Or perhaps just this spring when the Whitehouse intervened for the second time to tell the MTA: What unions are asking for is reasonable.

The gist of what the unions are asking for, and what the specially organized Presidential Executive Board (PEB) deemed reasonable, was a legit raise for the first time in more than a decade. A decade. 

By letting negotiations falter again and again, the MTA forced the PEB to get involved and spend a bucket of taxpayer money to do it. That's taxes paid for by you and me. By riders and union members alike. Even by those at the helm of the transit authority.

LIRR workers, they haven't been so direct as to say it to your face, but the MTA thinks you are ignorant and stupid. How else could they could they ignore PEB 244 and PEB 245?

We are entering the final throes of negotiation between the LIRR and its union workers, just days away from a strike, and I am appalled at how the MTA thinks the public has the memory and comprehension of a gnat. The MTA continues to beat the party drum, saying “When the union workers are ready to compromise and talk, we are here.” That is ridiculous. It is also untrue, because the unions have followed the rules, agreed to compromise and been rebuffed at every attempt. I am reminded of my nine year old demanding dessert when that was conditioned on eating dinner – which still sits on the plate in front of him.

"The Unions' final offer is the most reasonable."  These are the closing words of Presidential Emergency Board 245.  PEB 245 was the LIRR effort at a do-over.

This outcome should be no surprise since the unions accepted wholly the recommendations of PEB 244 while the LIRR came to PEB 245 with an approach that prompted the new board to state, "The lack of notice and bargaining on substantial issues in the Carrier's final offer is of significant concern."

 Translated, this means the railroad tried to pull a fast one, throwing out four years of efforts and inserting new issues and terms into the negotiations.

Last week President Obama signed an Executive Order concerning how the Long Island Railroad and unions resolve disagreements. It was nice to see the issue get a little press, but reading an article about it over weekend reminded me that most people have no idea what is really at stake.