An LIRR train arrives at the Bethpage station. (credit: Getty Images) An LIRR train arrives at the Bethpage station. (credit: Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Commuters were bracing for the worst Friday, following the latest round of contract talks between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Long Island Rail Road union workers ended with no compromise in sight.

As CBS 2’s Weijia Jiang reported, union leaders for the LIRR workers stormed out of contract negotiations with the MTA on Friday. The latest round lasted less than two hours.

Both sides blamed the other for the stalemate.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” Anthony Simon of the United Transportation Union said after the Friday morning meeting. “We gave them a counter offer. They went out and caucused for 10 minutes and came back and said absolutely not, their proposal stands. You know what? That’s what we’ve been dealing with for four years, the arrogance and the disrespect.”

Simon suggested that the MTA would not stop a strike from happening.

“The MTA is telling us they will endure a strike,” he said. “They should be ashamed of themselves. The riding public should now know that it’s the MTA that is looking to cause a strike.

But as WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reported, the MTA’s chief negotiator said Simon’s claims were “absolutely not true,” and that it is the unions that won’t budge.