Passengers on Long Island Rail Road platform [Photo: LIRR]Last week, after a delay of 10 days, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) finally posted on its website the vote totals from its members to authorize a strike at the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). Instead, they are actively functioning on behalf of the political and social forces that are lined up against the working class. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is offering a 9.5 percent wage hike for three years, a deal that many of the other LIRR unions pushed through to their membership. The LIRR workers holding out have not had a raise since 2022, at a time when inflation climbed to 9 percent. While providing political cover for both Trump and Hochul, the union apparatus is promoting the false conception that there is no popular support for a strike.