In today’s News and Commentary, the Long Island Rail Road strike ends after three days, key senators reject Trump’s proposed cuts to the Labor Department, and the EEOC moves to eliminate employer demographic data reporting requirements.

The first strike on the Long Island Rail Road in over 30 years ended Monday evening after negotiators reached a deal to reopen the nation’s busiest commuter rail system. As we previously reported, five unions representing roughly 3,500 LIRR workers had walked off the job on Saturday after failing to reach agreement on wages and healthcare costs, shutting down a railroad that carries nearly 300,000 passengers per weekday. The deal gives workers a four-year contract with annual raises of 3%, 3%, 3.5%, and 4.5%, along with a $3,000 lump sum payment and full retroactive pay. The unions had sought 5% in the final year but accepted the lump sum instead. Limited service resumed Tuesday at noon. Gov. Kathy Hochul blamed the Trump administration for cutting federal mediation short and pushing negotiations toward a strike, while MTA CEO Janno Lieber accused the unions of always intending to walk out.

On Monday, key Senate appropriators pushed back on the Trump administration’s proposed 26% cut to the Department of Labor’s budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, along with Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), signaled their opposition to eliminating the Job Corps program, which serves low-income adults at training facilities across the country. Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, who was elevated to the role after former Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid a misconduct investigation, defended the cuts, arguing that Job Corps does not train workers efficiently and that funds would instead be reallocated to a consolidated $3.5 billion workforce training framework titled “Make America Skilled Again.” The administration attempted similar cuts last year, which Congress also rejected.

The EEOC proposed ending a 60-year-old requirement that large employers report the demographic makeup of their workforce to the federal government. On May 14, the agency submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget that would eliminate the EEO-1 report, which private employers with 100 or more employees have been required to file annually. The EEOC has historically used EEO-1 data to identify demographic disparities, guide investigations, and analyze workforce composition at both the national and industry levels. The proposal aligns with prior statements by EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who has argued that employers may not use demographic data to facilitate what she views as unlawful employment discrimination and that Title VII contains no “diversity exception.” The proposal must still undergo a public comment period and may take several months to finalize. Until then, existing reporting obligations remain in effect.