Union negotiators for the Long Island Rail Road workers threatening to strike say they have reached a tentative deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to avert a strike. The railroad has not confirmed that information.

“We are not done yet, but we are very close,” said Anthony Simon, of the United Transportation Union, said earlier in the day.

Just after 11:30 a.m. the union posted the following message on their strike website: “STRIKE AVERTED!

TENTATIVE DEAL REACHED, MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW”

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo had stepped in as mediator during negotiations on Wednesday evening and claimed that tremendous progress had been made.

“We must do everything we can to prevent Long Islanders from being held hostage by a strike that would damage the regional economy and be highly disruptive for commuters,” Cuomo said in a statement Wednesday morning.

The two sides met again on Thursday morning and apparently hammered out an agreement.

The unions had threatened to strike at 12:01 a.m. Sunday if they did not get a deal.

Workers have been without a contract since 2010. President Barack Obama appointed two emergency boards to help resolve the dispute, but the MTA rejected both nonbinding recommendations. The emergency board’s last proposal called for a 17 percent raise over six years while leaving work rules and pensions alone.

The MTA offered a 17 percent wage increase over seven years, but also

(AP)