The public hates inflation. Ever-rising prices reduce prosperity for households and businesses. There are daily articles about high prices for gasoline, electricity, and beef. But rarely does the media spotlight inflation caused by greedy public sector unions that use their monopoly bargaining power to extract absurd wages and benefits.

For the first time since 1994, five unions representing more than 3,500 workers on the Long Island Rail Road, the country’s busiest passenger rail network, are on strike. The workers walked off the job on Saturday after negotiations that had gone on for more than a year fell apart.