MINEOLA, N.Y. — Unions negotiating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday that talks aimed at avoiding a walkout at the nation’s largest commuter railroad had collapsed.
Anthony Simon, the workers’ chief negotiator, said the eight Long Island Rail Road unions are proceeding with strike plans.
‘‘They continue to insist the unions agree to a contract worth less than the value of the compromise recommendations of two presidential emergency boards,’’ Simon said.
Thomas Prendergast, the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said there is a wide gulf between management and unions.
He said the MTA wants to give the raises the union has sought, but added ‘‘We want to do it in a fiscally responsible way and we’re not able to get there.’’
The unions representing 5,400 workers have said they intend to strike unless an agreement is reached by Sunday.
A walkout would affect 300,000 daily riders who travel in and out of New York City from Long Island.
The MTA last week released a contingency plan that includes shuttling commuters by school bus from selected LIRR stations to subway stops in New York City, and opening several large park-and-ride parking lots, but officials concede a strike would snarl traffic throughout the region and create a commuting nightmare for millions.
Several members of New York’s congressional delegation told Prendergast in Washington last week that neither side should count on Congress to resolve the long-running contract dispute.
Representative Steve Israel, a Long Island Democrat, said the breakdown in the talks was ‘‘frustrating. Both sides claim they are not as far away as it looks. I don’t know if they are playing the clock, but they can’t play with commuters. We need certainty.’’
Israel urged both sides to return to the negotiating table.
‘‘If they’re putting their eggs in the Congress basket, it’s not a very tenable basket,’’ he said.
The railroad’s unions have been working without a contract since 2010. President Obama appointed two emergency boards to help resolve the dispute, but the MTA rejected both nonbinding recommendations.