For LIRR workers in Ronkonkoma, hope wanes as hours pass
Union workers hold strike signs up while buses carrying commuters arrive at Ronkonkoma train station on Monday. Credit: Elizabeth Sagarin
A few dozen Long Island Rail Road workers gathered under tents, munched on doughnuts and cookies, and drank beverages to try to stay cool at the Ronkonkoma station parking lot on Monday as they waited — nervously in some cases — for word of a breakthrough in the 3-day-old strike.
Some said they were surprised the strike happened and were anxious for it to get over.
"I thought they would settle” before a strike was declared, said James Ristano, 52, a substation electrician from Selden. “I didn’t think it would come to this.”
“It’s a little worrisome” the strike is now in Day 3, he added. “I thought the governor would’ve stepped in and made something happen, work out a deal.”
As the hours passed, “I’m getting less and less hopeful,” he said. “It shows me that no side is giving in.”
The workers traded bits of information they were seeing on news media websites about the negotiations but said it was hard to know anything until a final deal is announced. Later, they started marching in a circle, holding signs and shouting slogans like "when we fight, we win."
“I didn’t want it to happen, “ Greg LaCorte, 62, an electrician from Lake Grove, said of the strike. “Hopefully the negotiations will go through today. Hopefully everybody comes to their senses."
He said the workers were “just looking for a fair wage. It’s very expensive to live on this island.”
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