With trains down, a trek to pick up mom's ashes
At the Babylon train station, roughly 150 workers from different unions raillied while drivers honked to show their support. Credit: Newsday/Brianne Ledda
It took Christian Briones, 45, from Patchogue, three hours to get home from his job in Jamaica last night due to the LIRR disruptions.
He usually relies on the train to get around, but Saturday morning, he was standing at a bus stop at the Babylon LIRR station, where roughly 150 workers from different unions, some wearing matching shirts and holding signs, were rallying.
Briones was en route to pick up his mother’s ashes. He had already been traveling for more than an hour, and had another bus ride to go.
“I’m wondering how long the strike is going to go. They need to pay them, quick,” he said, even if it means raising fares.
He planned to catch the 3 bus to West Babylon.
A passing pickup truck honked in support of the protesters, a tattooed arm holding up a peace sign out the driver’s side window.
A few minutes later, an ambulance and another truck similarly blared support to cheers from the crowd.
Danny Santiago, 52, a local union leader and LIRR block operator, echoed what many strikers have been saying — the MTA needs to pay its workers a fair wage.
“We’re like everyone else on Long Island. Inflation killed us,” he said. “In three years, our salaries have not gone up. All we want is a fair wage; we’re not looking to get rich.”
His car insurance alone has gone up 57% over the past four years, he said. When told the region’s cost of living has risen more than 20% since 2020, he added: “We weren’t looking for them to match that either. That would be unrealistic.”
In his 28 years with the railroad, this is his first strike, he said. It feels weird; he’d rather be at work.
Minutes later, the protesters moved from the station to stand alongside the road between the LIRR and Babylon High School.
The crowd held up anti-Hochul signs, and booed when the organizer asked how they felt about the governor.
Passing cars slowed and honked in support, including a police car that briefly spun its lights.
Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
Gilgo Killer's life in jail ... How about those Knicks? ... HS plays of the week ... What's up on LI ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
