'We did not want to go on strike'
James Ridley, local chair for the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, stands outside the Atlantic Terminal station in Brooklyn Monday. Credit: Newsday/Tracy Tullis
Outside the Atlantic Terminal station in Brooklyn about a dozen striking workers stood in the sun with their signs and flags.
“We did not want to go on strike. That is not something we wanted to do,” said James Ridley, the local chair for the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. “If the MTA had come to the table and collectively bargained in good faith, we would not be here.”
He said he has a wife and children and as a resident of Brooklyn they struggle with the high cost of living in New York City. Although he’s an employee of the MTA, he and his fellow workers sometimes must drive long distances for work — to start a train at 1 a.m. from Southampton, for example.
“The head of the MTA makes $420,000 annually,” he said. “So when we're trying to make ends meet, his ends are already met.”
He pointed out that the workers don’t get paid while they are striking — and they can’t ride the MTA for free either as they normally would — so striking was not something any of them took lightly. Still, he said, “We will stay on the picket line for as long as necessary. And no longer.”
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