In the early 90's, there was a proposal for Amtrak to run their "Turboliners" on an Albany-Pt. Jefferson route. The idea had the backing of Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and with that said, was expected to actually happen. One of the issues were crew change necessities, because the Engineers union have a "Manning Rule" which I think is Article 24 of the BLE Agreement (I might be wrong with the Article number). At the time, the "Manning Rule" was sacrosanct and was broadly interpreted to mean that any train operated on the LIRR, required an LIRR Engineer on board. Amtrak balked at this, because in their words, "they operate their own trains all over the Country, why should it different on the LIRR?" The union issues diminished political support and the idea was dropped. It wasn't just a newspaper article. Amtrak wanted to start qualifying some of its crews, the unions entered the bickering stage, etc. That was the early 90's.
In the late 90's, the BLE "Manning Rule" reared its head again with the privatization of freight proposal. This time, the political backing was a juggernaut that wouldn't be stopped by a union. The BLE was told that in no uncertain terms, that they would be litigated into bankruptcy if they didn't give the MTA/LIRR relief from the "Manning Rule". And, in an agreement attached to the contract, relief was given from the "Manning Rule", "as it pertains to freight". The BLE didn't have a choice, because they could have lost the Rule in its entirety. Thus began the NYA era on the LIRR.