Executive Order 14374, issued January 14, 2026, establishes a second emergency board under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) to resolve a serious and escalating labor impasse between the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and employees represented by five unions: the Transportation Communications Union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. This order is not routine administrative action. A first emergency board, created by Executive Order 14349 in September 2025, submitted its recommendations, but those recommendations were rejected by at least one party—exhausting the standard RLA resolution pathway and triggering a formal request for this second board. That failure signals a deepening impasse with material stakes for LIRR commuters, regional employers, and the broader metropolitan economy.
The transition to a second board represents a significant narrowing of the resolution framework. Unlike the first board, which could craft its own recommendations, this Board must select between the parties' final settlement offers—a "baseball-style" arbitration mechanism prescribed by sections 9A(f) and 9A(g) of the RLA. The Board, composed of a presidentially appointed chair and two members with no financial ties to either railroads or labor organizations, becomes effective January 16, 2026. Parties have 30 days to submit final offers, and the Board has 30 days thereafter to select the most reasonable one and report to the President. This structure materially increases pressure on both sides to submit credible, competitive proposals, as neither party can rely on a negotiated middle ground.
Critically, the order also imposes a federally mandated status quo requirement: from the time the second board was requested until 60 days after it submits its report, neither party may alter the conditions underlying the disputes without mutual agreement. In practical terms, this extends a cooling-off period that prevents strikes, lockouts, or unilateral operational changes—preserving LIRR service continuity through approximately mid-2026. Administrative responsibilities are distributed among the President, who appoints all Board members; the National Mediation Board, which retains the Board's records after termination; and the Department of Transportation, which bears publication costs. The Board terminates automatically upon delivering its report.