Over a quarter of a million NYC-area commuters are having a much worse Monday than usual, as the Long Island Railroad’s (LIRR) first strike since 1994 continues.

The dispute between five LIRR employee unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state agency that operates the LIRR, which began on Saturday at 12:01am, didn’t come out of the blue. Contract negotiations proceeded, unsuccessfully, over three years, and two federal interventions also failed to move the needle on a deal, according to the New York Times.

What workers want: The ~3,500 engineers, signalmen, machinists, and other employees in the striking unions have not received a raise since 2022. They are seeking a 9.5% retroactive raise—3% for 2023, 3% for 2024, and 3.5% for 2025. The MTA agreed to that.

The sticking points

The LIRR unions involved in the strike also asked for a 5% raise for 2026.

• The MTA said no can do, as it would exceed deals it has made with other unions in its jurisdiction.
• To avoid drawing the ire of the 80 other unions, the MTA countered with a 3% raise and a lump-sum cash payment, which they rejected. The MTA said that the cash compensation for workers in the five striking unions for 2025 averaged $136,000.
• Workers’ proposed changes to healthcare premiums went unanswered.

“The raises weren't really raises, when you factor in inflation,” Steve Ammirati, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, told CBS.

Additionally, the MTA sought to abolish several work rules that result in higher pay for the unionized employees. An example provided by the New York Times: If a worker started the day driving a diesel train but is asked to switch to an electric train on the same day, that worker must receive two days’ pay.

Zoom out: More than 270,000 passengers use the LIRR trains daily, especially weekday commuters going to and from work. At a news conference yesterday, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul said striking workers would erase their gains from a new contract by staying on strike for three days. There are currently no further negotiations scheduled.—HVL

Trump warned Iran to “get moving” or “there won’t be anything left of them.” In a post on Truth Social yesterday, the president wrote, “the Clock is Ticking” on an Iran peace deal, and “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” While the current ceasefire has no firm expiration date, tensions between the two nations continue to simmer while they remain at odds on a long-term solution. On his way home from China on Friday, President Trump told reporters that Iran offering a 20-year moratorium on its nuclear program would be sufficient for him to end the war, saying, “Twenty years is enough, but the level of guarantee from them is not enough. In other words, it’s got to be a real 20 years.” But the Trump administration denied that anything less than a complete and permanent end to the program would be sufficient.

Jury to begin deliberations today in Musk v. Altman. The advisory jury, made up of six women and three men, will begin deliberating at the federal courthouse in Oakland today, although District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will have the final say over whether OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and its president Greg Brockman are found liable for unjustly enriching themselves by converting OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization. The remedies phase will also begin today, during which Judge Rodgers will hear arguments about what should be done in the event that Musk prevails (the jury will not take part in that phase).

New filing reveals how Greg Abel is rebalancing Berkshire Hathaway stocks. The new CEO, in his first quarter as Warren Buffett’s successor, signaled that he’s adding a chapter of his own in the BH playbook by discontinuing Buffett’s two-year Apple sell-off and going big on Alphabet. The company’s quarterly 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that under Abel, it more than tripled its position in Alphabet and sold off Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, Domino’s Pizza, and UnitedHealth Group. It also cut its stake in Constellation Brands, the alcoholic beverage producer, by 95%. Watchers say Abel isn’t demonstrating Buffett’s aversion to investing heavily in technology.—HVL

Someone’s going to have some big, knife-concealing shoes to fill. The casting process for the next James Bond has officially begun. And even though the franchise has survived plenty of turnover in the past, this time, 007 has a new handler: Amazon MGM Studios.

Golden eye: Famed casting director Nina Gold (Game of Thrones, The Crown, Star Wars) will have the honor of finding the next Bond. Besides acting chops and a passable Bri’ish accent, the actor must “ooze sex appeal,” Gold said, and be young enough to portray the character in at least three to four movies, per Deadline. Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Tom Francis have all been rumored to be potential candidates.

Prime time: Amazon stirred shook things up last year when it purchased full control of the Bond character from its longtime producers for about $20 million, though things like earnouts, bonuses, and stock options may have brought the total value of the deal much higher, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Amazon could make a lot of moneypennies: Over the last six decades, the Bond films have raked in about $6 billion at the domestic box office. Plus, Amazon and its Prime Video service have already trialed an extended 007 universe with the comedy series Bait, which has a familiar premise: an actor dealing with the consequences of a James Bond audition.—BC

Nvidia earnings ’ncoming: Earnings season is wrapping up, but not before the world’s most valuable company adds an exclamation mark. AI chipmaker Nvidia will report quarterly results on Wednesday, just a few days after CEO Jensen Huang traveled to China with President Trump, and a week after it became the first company to hit a $5.5 trillion market cap.

Time for a group chat: Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers and central bankers are gathering in Paris today and tomorrow to talk economics. Greek Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said in a statement that officials will be hot to talk about “opening the Strait of Hormuz” and bringing the Iran conflict to a “lasting end” to relieve pressure on the global economy, as energy prices drive inflation higher.

See you later, Late Show: After more than 30 years, The Late Show is finally going to bed. Host Stephen Colbert’s last night is on Thursday, and while details of the final show are being kept quiet, Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne, and Bruce Springsteen are slated to stop by earlier in the week.

But wait, there’s more:

• The NBA Conference Finals start tonight, with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West. Then, in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night.
• Over in hockey world, the NHL’s Conference Finals start on Wednesday, when the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche kick off a best-of-seven series. On Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes will take on the winner of tonight’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.
• We’ll get a glimpse at how much shoppers are shopping when Home Depot reports earnings tomorrow and Walmart delivers results on Thursday.
• Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April meeting will be released on Wednesday.
• Baby Yoda is almost back. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on Friday.

Mondays are bad enough, so the Brew’s own Brendan Cosgrove scoured the internet for a positive news story to help you start the week off right.

As far as childhood dreams go, naming a dinosaur has to be near the top of the list, right next to having a pet monkey and dunking on Air Bud. But somewhere between high school science and the Jurassic Park sequels, most people give up on dinosaurs.

Not Thitiwoot Sethapanichsakul, though. The paleontologist just helped identify and name a new type of giant dinosaur found in his home country of Thailand. “It fulfills a kind of childhood promise. That, yeah, I’m going to name a dinosaur one day. And I want it to be from Thailand,” Sethapanichsakul told CNN.

He named it Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis. “Naga” refers to a serpent in Southeast Asian folklore, while “titan” is a nod to the dinosaur’s massive size, and the last part refers to the province where it was found. The dino was nearly 89 feet long, weighed 60,000 pounds, and probably lived around 100 million years ago.—BC