S 174: Enacts the "commuter rail employee rights protection act".

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 174 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, ADDABBO, CLEARE, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, MATT- ERA, MAYER, MURRAY, PALUMBO, PARKER, RHOADS, TEDISCO, WEBER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT concerning protections for employees of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad company and the Long Island Rail Road company, wholly owned corporations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority operating as common carriers engaged in interstate commerce The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "commuter rail employee rights protection act". 3 § 2. The Metro-North Commuter Railroad company and the Long Island 4 Rail Road company and any of their successors and assigns who operate, 5 manage, or develop the railroad system within the counties of Suffolk, 6 Nassau, Queens, Kings, New York, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, 7 Ulster, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Greene, Columbia, Albany, and Rens- 8 selaer waive any defense of jurisdictional or substantive sovereign 9 immunity arising out of any state or federal claim or cause of action 10 against it or its successors and assigns. In addition, the Metro-North 11 Commuter Railroad company and the Long Island Rail Road company and any 12 of their successors and assigns who operate, manage, or develop any 13 municipally owned and operated commuter railroad operating within the 14 general system of railroading within the state of New York shall be 15 subject to the provisions of all federal railroad laws, including the 16 "Railway Labor Act" (45 U.S.C. s.151 et seq.), the "Federal Employers 17 Liability Act" (45 U.S.C. s.51 et seq.), the "Railroad Retirement Act of 18 1937" (45 U.S.C. s. 231 et seq.), the "Railroad Retirement Tax Act" (26 19 U.S.C. s. 3201 et seq.), the Federal Railroad Safety Laws (49 U.S.C. 20 s.20101 et seq.), whistleblower laws, discrimination laws, and the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00718-01-5 
 S. 174 2 1 "Interstate Commerce Act" (49 U.S.C. s.10501 et seq). Such waiver shall 2 be retroactive to any lawsuit currently pending in any state or federal 3 court in the state of New York. 4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.